A Case Study on the Young’s Modulus of Stone Columns Built in Vietnam

Abstract

Young’s modulus of the stone column is a fundamental parameter in nearly all studies and engineering applications. In addition to the stone properties and construction technology, the elastic modulus also depends on the surrounding soil at the site, necessitating a site-specific study of Young’s modulus. The current study presents an investigation of a stone column in the Long Son Petrochemical Project, Vietnam, including a group load test in order to back-analyze the Young’s modulus of the stone column. Four stone columns of 800 mm diameter and center-to-center spacing of 2200 mm were installed by Vibroflotation. A full-scale on-site test was carried out using a rectangular group of four stone columns. The properties of the stone were determined in accordance with the Vietnamese standard TCVN 7572. The settlement result of the group load test shows the Young’s modulus of the stone column varied from 25 MPa to 40 MPa by back-analysis in the first trial and increased to 70 MPa in the second trial after improving the surrounding soil.