International Journal of Advances in Engineering Science and Technology

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252
ISSN: 2319-1120

Cavity Expansion Approach In Modelling Stone

Column Installation Effect
Ng Kok Shien
Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
Email- ngkokshien@ppinang.uitm.edu.my
Abstract- The displacement of soil during the stone column installation process is a cavity expansion problem. The
alteration in the surrounding soil caused by the stone column installation process is commonly not considered in the
design. However this installation effects are one of the major concern for accurate design. The concern is on the changes
of the excess pore water pressure, vertical and horizontal earth pressure, displacement and structure degradation. The
paper is aimed at investigating the issues related to the application of the cavity expansion theory in finite element
program as well as the effects caused by this expansion process. Finite element geotechnical program PLAXIS was used to
carry out the analysis. Numerical results show the doubling of the initial radius approach is able to give adequate
approximation of results and the correcting layer is not necessarily required. The results of the numerical study on the
effects of the cavity expansion of a stone column in soft clay compared well with the analytical solution and field studies.

Keywords Cavity expansion, stone columns, installation effect, finite element

I. INTRODUCTION
The cavity expansion theory has been widely applied in the analysis and design of some geotechnical problems.
The applications cover the geotechnical area of in-situ soil testing, pile foundations, underground excavations and
tunnelling. Cavity expansion solutions are developed in various forms, taking into account of (1) different stressstrain behaviour of soil (elastic, elastic-plastic, strain hardening/hardening, critical state), (2) finite or infinite
boundary, (3) zero or non-zero initial radius, (4) loading and unloading condition and (5) large strain and small strain
relationship between cavity pressure and displacement. Four fundamental equations that need to be satisfied are [1]:
(1) conservation of mass or continuity, (2) quasi-static equilibrium, (3) the yield condition and (4) the elastic or
plastic flow rule.
Simple closed form equations are recommended based on the cylindrical cavity expansion theory to model the
installation effect of a stone column where the increases in horizontal stress and the pore water pressure can be
predicted [2]. By adopting Gibson and Anderson's theory on undrained cavity expansion for elastic-plastic soil [3], the
zone of soil near to the cavity turns into a plastic state while the soil beyond remains in an elastic state. The plastic
radius, R, can be calculated as:

R = ae

p r
2cu

(1)

Where a is the radius of poker, p is the cavity pressure, r is the radial total stress at radius r, and cu is the
undrained shear strength. For the case of a penetrating vibroprobe where the initial radius is zero and it expands to
radius a, an infinite boundary condition is valid. Therefore, the pressure in the cavity will have reached the limit
pressure (plim) and may be predicted as:

plim = h 0 + cu
2
c
(
1
+
v
)
u

(2)

whereh0, E and v are the initial total horizontal stress, Youngs modulus and Poissons ratio respectively. For this
case, the radial stress, r in the plastic zone (r>R) and the elastic zone (r >R) are given by Eq. (3) and Eq. (4)
respectively. Subsequently, recommendation of estimating excess pore water pressure [4],u is shown in Eq. (5).

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Cavity Expansion Approach In Modeling Stone Column Installation Effect

R
r

r = h 0 + cu

(3)
r
R

r = h0 + cu 2cu ln

(4)

R
u = 2cu ln
r

(5)

Randolph & Wroth's solution made use of the analysis developed for the interpretation of pressuremeter test in
estimating the stress changes within the plastic zone, R after the undrained cavity expansion for pile driving in clay
and is given by [5]

G
r
r = cu 1 + ln 2 ln
cu
r0

(6)

G
r
u = cu ln 2 ln
r0
cu

(7)

II. CAVITY EXPANSION APPROACH IN NUMERICAL STUDY

During the stone column installation process, a cavity is created and can be modelled by the expansion of a
cylindrical cavity with an initial radius of zero to the column radius, rc. Nevertheless, numerical calculations must
necessarily begin with a finite cavity radius, a0 in order to retain its finite circumference strain. However, this
restriction does not produce inconsistency results because after doubling the cavity radius, the internal pressure is
within 6% of the ultimate limit pressure [6]. Elastic perfectly plastic is used in their model. Using pile driving as an
example, expanding a cavity from a0 to 2a0 can give adequate approximations to what happens in a soil when
expanding from zero radius to pile radius, r0. The relationship between the r0 and a0 is

r0 = 3a0

(8)

Figure 1 shows the schematic drawing of their idea. Extrapolations of results have to be carried out for the
annular region bounded within 2a0 and r0. This analogy was adopted for stone column installation and proved that
the theory is true not only for elastic perfectly plastic model but also for a more advanced model i.e. cam-clay type
model [7].
In the cavity expansion analysis, the solution is based on infinite continuum. For this reason, it is required to add
a correcting layer (CL) to the perimeter of the mesh to simulate an infinite boundary. The quantification of the
correcting layer properties and the suggestion of v = 0.25 and E=5E/12 were proposed by [7], where E is the
Youngs modulus of the inner mesh, and the outer radius of the layer is arbitrarily chosen to be twice the inner
radius.

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IJAEST, Volume 2, Number 2

Ng Kok Shien et al.

of pile
Initial cavity interface
Final cavity interface

a0

Equivalent pile interface

2a0
r0

Stresses must be
extrapolated in this region
Pore pressure distribution
due to pile installation

r0 = 3 a0

Fig. 1

Finite cavity expansion model for pile installation[6].

III. VERIFICATION OF NUMERICAL MODEL

The study here utilizes the model described in PLAXIS manual ver. 9 [9] for numerical model verification. A
cylindrical cavity of initial radius, a0 of 0.5m is expanded in an undrained condition to a radius, a of 2 m by internal
pressure of p enforced in PLAXIS finite element program by using the prescribed displacement loading function. An
axisymmetric mesh (Fig.2) was used with a refinement near the cavity. Top and bottom boundaries were fixed
vertically while the right boundary was fixed horizontally. The soil was assumed to be incompressible with a
cohesion value, cu = 10 and a zero friction angle. The ratio of shear modulus to cohesion, G/cu was chosen to be 100
and Poissons ratio, vu is 0.495. The properties of correcting layer were calculated accordingly as mentioned above.
Initial stress is taken as zero. The undrained analysis was carried out and the radius of the elastic-plastic boundary is
denoted by R. The results as in Fig.3 are compared with the analytical solution provided by the PLAXIS manual as
given below.
Large displacement solution:
R2 =

(9)

(a2 a 2 )

0
r2
p = GF ( ) forR<a

p = GF ( r ) + 2c ln
r
where
2 =

a2 a02
a2

forR > a

c
2
F ( ) = + + + ...
4 9
G

r2 = 1 exp

The large displacement solution was obtained by running the updated mesh analysis. The computed results agree
very well with the analytical solution. The plastic zone limit, R from this study was found to be 19.5 m (Fig.4) while

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Cavity Expansion Approach In Modeling Stone Column Installation Effect

the analytical solution gives 19.4 m. The excess pore water pressure generated is also verified with the analytical
solution given by Eq. (7) as shown in Fig.5.

64a

64a

Normalized cacity pressure (p/cu)

Correcting layer

6
5
4
3
2

0
0

Fig. 2 Numerical model.

Analytical solution
This study

2
a/a0

Fig. 3 Cylindrical expansion numerical results.

5
4

u/cu

3
2
Yu (2000)
This study

1
0
0

Fig. 4 Large displacement solution.

2
a/a0

Fig.5 Comparison of results

The numerical model above assumes finite thickness where the vertical movement is restrained. However, this is
not the case for the real problem. Stone column length is typically 8 to 15 m long and the top boundary is always
open. A 15 m high model with an open top boundary and a roller boundary at all other sides was therefore adopted
in this study (Fig.6). Same soil parameters as the model above were used but the radius, a was taken as a column
radius, rc while the initial radius was 0.1 m. A subsequent study aimed at investigating the influence of s correcting
layer and also the influence of an initial radius to the pressure limit, p or in this case x. Another model without a
correcting layer was used to compare the results of a model with a correcting layer (CL). After the analysis, the
extent of plastic limit, R for the models with and without a correcting layer is 4.92 m and 4.90 m respectively as
shown in Fig.7. In the figure, the plastic points limit for soil near to the surface are less than the soil below. After 5
m depth, the limit seems to be constant. Analytical solution for R is calculated as 4.91 m which is close to the
numerical study. This signifies the infinite vertical boundary assumption is still valid for depth further below. The
influence of a correcting layer is presented in Fig.8 for a soil at a depth 10 m. For the pressure limit value, the model
without a correcting layer gives the results within 8% to the model with a correcting layer. However, if the boundary
for the case of no correcting layer is enlarged, then the difference falls within 5%. Analytical solution gives good
agreement to the numerical results despite some discrepancy during the initial stage of the cavity expansion. As a
result, the selection of an initial value to represent the real cavity expansion behavior is not value sensitive.

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IJAEST, Volume 2, Number 2

Ng Kok Shien et al.

Initial radius, a0 = 0.1 m

Radius of column, rc = 0.5 m

(a)

Fig.6 Mesh with top boundary open.

Fig.7

(b)

Plastic limit zone for model (a) with correcting layer

and (b) without correcting layer.

60

At 10 m depth

Double a0, a0 = 0.289 with CL

50

Double a0, a0 = 0.289 without CL

x/cu

u/cu

a0 = 0.1 with CL

40

3
2
Yu (2000)
PLAXIS with CL
PLAXIS without CL
PLAXIS without CL but larger boundary

Fig. 8

2
a/a0

Influence of correcting layer.

30
20
10

0
0

a0 = 0.02 without CL

rc = 0.5 m

0
0

10

15

20

25

a/a0

Fig. 9 Influence of initial radius.

The following studies adopted a different initial radius, a0 i.e. 0.289 and 0.02 from the initial radius used above
(i.e. a0 = 0.1 m). The value of 0.289 was calculated from the Eq. (8) while the value of 0.02 was arbitrary chosen to
represent a small enough value for initial radius. The results are plotted in Fig.9. It is clear that all results give a
similar response of horizontal stress with regards to horizontal distance.
From the above study, the necessity of having a correcting layer is not justified and therefore will not be
incorporated in the study hereafter, while the initial radius will be set at 0.1 m throughout the study.

IV. NUMERICAL MODEL FOR STONE COLUMN

In Southeast Asia, the ground improvement technique is always associated with the treatment of soft marine
clay, especially in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. Stone columns serve as one of the efficient and effective
methods to reduce the settlement and consolidation time. An end bearing column is normally used and the effect of
installation in soft marine clay will be investigated. The numerical model is 15 m high and 20 m wide viz. Fig.10.

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Cavity Expansion Approach In Modeling Stone Column Installation Effect

Mesh and boundary sensitivity studies were carried out and the current adopted models are sufficient to give
accurate enough results. An initial radius of 0.1 m before cavity expansion and will expand to the column radius, rc
of 0.5 m using the prescribed displacement loading approach. The ground water level was placed at ground surface.
The typical soil parameters for Singapore marine clay are given in Table 1. The state of stress at rest, Ko for the soil
was 0.625 calculated using Jackys formula Ko = 1- sin . For Mohr-Coulumb (MC) model used here, the stiffness,
E was assumed as 1000 kN/m2 while Poissons ratio, v was taken as 0.3. This part of study follows the approach
and structure used in Castro & Karstunens paper [8], the main source of reference in this paper.

Singapore marine clay

c = 0

= 22o
cc = 0.6
cr = 0.1

Fig.10 Numerical model for stone column.

During stone columns installation by cavity expansion approach, the excess pore water pressure is dissipated
through the column and the ground surface. The column material was not modelled since the focus is on the
surrounding soft soil. The same approach is adopted by [7, 8] with the assumption that the permeability of the
column material is high enough relative to the surrounding soil to be considered infinite.
Table 1 Material properties of treated soil.
Parameter
Singapore marine clay
(kN/m3)
16
sat
cc
0.6
cr
0.1
[-]
1.5
e0
()
22

2
c
(kN/m )
0
kx
m/s
3 x 10-9
ky
m/s
1 x 10-9
The analysis begins with the undrained expansion of the columns followed by consolidation process. As a result
of column expansion the horizontal stress increased at the vicinity of the column until the failure state was reached.
Yielding of the soil denoted by plastic points can be observed in Fig. 11. At 10 m depth, the plastic points limit is
about 2.9 m while the value of 2.69 m was obtained from the analytical solution using Eq. (9). The analytical
solution is purely based on total stress analysis while this analysis is an effective stress analysis where the shear
strength value increases with depth. The shear strength, cu used in the analytical solution is taken as 0.22 v or 13.2
kN/m2,a value which falls within the typical range of Singapore marine clay. Besides the influence of the open top
boundary, the difference in results may also be due to the overestimation of shear strength using Mohr Coulomb
model where it estimates cu as 0.3v. It is clear that the plastic points limit decreases with depth. Therefore, any
analytical solution which is based on infinite conditions may not give good results for soil near to the top.

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Ng Kok Shien et al.

'x/'x0

3.5

2.9 m

3.0

5 m depth

2.5

10 m depth

2.0

12.5 m depth

1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
0

Fig.11 Plastic points after stone column expansion.

12
r/rc

15

18

21

24

Fig.12 Effective horizontal stress after consolidation.

The increase of effective horizontal stress, x due to stone column installation is evidently proved by in situ soil
test taken before and after the test. The effective horizontal stress after the consolidation, acting on the cavity wall at
different depths, is presented in Fig.12. The highest value is at the cavity wall and it decreases with the increase in
radii from the column center. The variation of normalized effective horizontal stress for depth 10 m and 12.5 m
which fall almost on same line indicates ignorable depth influence at that depth. The effects of installation are larger
for soil near to the column face in which the increase is 3.2 times the initial effective lateral stress. The increase of
horizontal stress, x at 10 m during the undrained expansion is compared against the analytical solution given by
Eq. (6). Two results match quite well with each other as shown in Fig.13.
2.5

60

This study

50

Randoph and Wroth (1979)

2.0
1.5

40

x0

70

30

1.0

20

0.5

10
0.0

0
0

10

15

20

25

r/rc

Fig.13 Increase of total horizontal stress.

Fig.14

10

15
r/rc

20

25

30

Installation effect to coefficient of horizontal

earth pressure.

The plot of the coefficient of horizontal earth pressure as demonstrated in Fig.14 indicates the influence zone
caused by column installation. The curve shows a plateau after about 12 column radius. Field measurement by [10]
also indicated that the installation influence zone falls between 8 to 16 column radius.
By normalizing with the initial stress value, the results are compared with field measurement (Fig.15). The field
measurement for post installation earth pressure is taken from [10] at two different sites. The first site consists of
silty clay with high Ko = 0.91 while second site the treated ground is silty sand with Ko = 0.57. A very similar trend
is obtained with the numerical results calculated for soft Singapore marine clay. In this plot the influence of vertical
stresses are included which the value also changed after column installation, mainly near to the column face.
The immediate increase in pore water pressure is observed during poker penetration and column installation
followed by dissipation which occurs afterwards. In this study, the dissipation of excess pore pressure with time is

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R = 2.89 m

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Cavity Expansion Approach In Modeling Stone Column Installation Effect

plotted in Fig.16 for a depth 10 m below the surface. The undrained expansion creates high excess pore water
pressures near the column face and dissipates fast towards the column which acts as the permeable boundary. In
only one day, the peak value of 44 kPa drops to almost half, 24 kPa. The curve for undrained condition is
comparable to the analytical solution, Eq. (7). Both predicted a linear decrease of pore pressure with distance to
about five column radius from the column axis. For full dissipation of excess pore water pressures in low
permeability Singapore marine clay, the time required is more than 100 days. However, this result is for a single
column and in real construction, the stone columns are installed very near to each other ( 4rc) and thus requires
lesser time for excess pore water pressures to dissipate.
4

50
Randoph and Wroth (1979)
Undrained
T= 1 day
T = 5 days
T = 20 days
T = 100 days

This study

40

Field 1

u (kPa)

K/K0

Field 2

2
K=1

30
20
10
0

0
0

10

15

20

25

Fig.

16

r/rc

Fig. 15 Comparison with field measurements.

5
r/rc

Isochrones of pore water

dissipations at 10 m depth.

10

pressure

V. CONCLUSION
Cavity expansion approach was used in the numerical study to simulate the installation process. The results can
be summarized as:
(i) Doubling the initial radius is able to give adequate approximations of results.
(ii) Correcting layer is not necessary as long as the boundary is bigger enough.
(iii) For Singapore Marine Clay, the increase of horizontal stress is 3.2 times the initial value (at 10 m depth).
(iv) The installation influence zone for horizontal stress and excess pore water pressure is about 12 and 5 columns
radius respectively.
(v) Low permeability of Singapore Marine Clay requires 100 days for excess pore pressure to dissipate.
(vi) Numerical results compares well with the analytical solution and field studies.
VI. REFERENCES
[1] Yu HS, Cavity expansion methods in geomechanics, Springer US, 2000.
[2] Egan D, Scott W& McCabe BA, Installation effects of vibro replacement stone columns in soft clay,
Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on the Geotechnics of Soft Soils, Glasgow, 2008, pp. 23-30.
[3] Gibson RE & Anderson WF, In situ measurement of soil properties with the Pressuremeter, Civil
Engineering and Public Works Review, Vol. 56, 1961, pp. 615618.
[4] Castro J, Pore pressure during stone column installation, Proceedings of the 18th European Young
Geotechnical Engineers Conference. Ancona, Italy, 2007.
[5] Randolph M & Wroth C, An analytical solution for the consolidation around a driven pile, International
Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, Vol. 3(3), 1979, pp. 217229.

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Ng Kok Shien et al.

[6] Carter JP, Randolph MF & Wroth CP, Stress and pore pressure changes in clay during and after the expansion
of a cylindrical cavity, International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, Vol.
3(4), 1979, pp. 305322.
[7] Burd HJ, & Houlsby GT, "Finite element analysis of two cylindrical expansion problems involving nearly
incompressible material behaviour. "International journal for numerical and analytical methods in
geomechanics, Vol. 14(5), 1990, pp. 351-366.
[8]
Castro J & Karstunen M, Numerical simulations of stone column installation Canadian Geotechnical
Journal, Vol.47(10), 2010, pp. 1127-1138.
[9] Brinkgreve RBJ, Broere W & Waterman D, PLAXIS-2D (Version 9.0), Delft University of Technology and
PLAXIS bv, The Netherlands, 2008.
[10] Kirsch F, Vibro stone column installation and its effect on ground improvement, Numerical modelling of
construction processes in geotechnical engineering for urban environment: proceedings of the International
Conference on Numerical Simulation of Construction Processes in Geotechnical Engineering for Urban
Environment, 2006, Bochum, Germany, pp. 115-124.

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