Ground Improvement by

Vibro Stone Column

CE 596 Soil Improvement
Term paper Fall 2006

Civil Engineering Department

New Mexico State University

Desh Raj Sonyok

Saheem Ahmed

Importance of Vibro Replacement

Reduce settlement of soil

Improve bearing capacity
Improve shear strength of soil
Liquefaction mitigation

Soils Suitable for the Vibro

Replacement

Construction Procedures of the

Vibro Replacement Method

Analysis on Vibro Replacement

Stone Column
Few mathematical analysis available for
the vibro replacement stone column
Priebe (1995) proposed an equation for
the improvement factor as a function of
area replacement ratio. He further
proposed a design chart for the
improvement factor which is much more
common in practice.

Preibes (1995) Equation

Improvement factor
equation (Preibe,
'1995)

Ac
5 Ac A
n0 1 .
1
A 4.K ac .1 Ac A
K ac tan 2 45 c 2

Settlement after the

improvement

S p
Ds

A
1 c
A

5 Ac A
1

4.K ac .1 A c A

Priebe (1995) Design Chart

Analysis and Comparison

Stone Column to Prevent Settlement in
Ireland

Measured Settlements

Soil Parameters and Settlement

Before
Depth (m)

Soil type

After
E

v
al
ue

N
(M
Pa
)

E
v
al
u
e

Befor
e

Afte
r

s (mm)

(M
Pa
)

(
m
m
)

0.0-3.5

SP

10

10

18

18

31

18

3.5-6.0

SP

20

20

120

12

6.0-7.0

ML/C
L

17

11

7.0-8.5

GW

12

10

20

12

8.5-11.0

GW

30

60

30

60

11.0-14.0

CI

27

38

27

38

14.0-16.0

GW

35

70

35

70

Recorded s
(mm)

Estimated s
(mm) *

40 - 70

167

Stone Column to Prevent

Settlement in South Africa

Settlement Measurements

Calculate Settlement
Structural load: 500 kPa 700 kPa
Grid type: triangular
Average length: 8 m 14 m
Diameter: 740 mm
Zone

Spacing (m) A (m2)

A/AC

Settlement (mm)

1.5

6.5

90

1.94

Settlement for the Vibro Stone

Column Equation Proposed Method
As
as
As Ac
as

e
1 e0

s
n
c

 s .a s c .1 a s

Average stress over the

unit cell
Stress concentration on the
surrounding soil
Settlement equation of
the surrounding soil

1
c
c .
1 n 1 a s

P0 c .
CcH
S
log

1 a s 1 a s e 0
P0

If compressibility of the stone

column is bs,

d v b s . s .
V b s .V. s .

Settlement of the stone

column

H b s .H. s .

 The proposed equation gives an estimation of

the settlement of the surrounding soil and the
column alone. The final settlement of the site will
be definitely with in the limit proposed above.

Limitation of the equation

The proposed equation is applicable to the
homogeneous soil with clay to be improved. The
equation to be modified for the layered soils
This method assumes constant compressibility
index before and after treatment

Conclusions
The primary purpose of this method is to improve the
settlement characteristics of the soft soil, increase load
bearing capacity, and shear strength
Estimation of settlement for the design of vibro stone
column proposed by Priebe is found to be more
conservative
A rational method of estimating settlement in a
homogenous soil is proposed based on the basic concept
of composite material and soil mechanics.
Result of this preliminary work is yet to validate
numerically and in the field.
Detailed research in future is necessary to check its
validity and applicability.

Thank You