Reinforcement mechanism of vibro-stone columns with additional wicks and numerical analysis

An energy model of excess pore pressure generation under vibration loading was adopted to simulate the installation process of composite vibro-stone columns. The interaction between the energy dissipation and hole expansion was taken into account and a reasonable simplification was made in the simulation. The finite difference method was used to discretize the reinforced area and to solve the boundary value problem. A numerical program was developed to simulate the installation process of composite vibro-stone columns. The influence of wicks on the variation of pore pressure for composite vibro-stone columns was discussed in details. Finally, the reinforcement results were compared between traditional stone columns and composite vibro-stone columns. Numerical simulation indicates that the reinforced areas of composite vibro-stone columns are obviously lager than those of the traditional stone column duo to the existence of additional wicks. This reinforcement method is not only suitable for the sand ground but also valid for the silt or siltsand ground.