Sustainable Utilisation of Industrial Waste Aggregates in Stone Columns for Ground Improvement
摘要
The stone column is a very efficient ground improvement technique to improve the load-carrying capacity and consolidation properties of soft and very soft soils. In the current study, the conventional aggregates used in stone columns are replaced with recycled concrete aggregate (RCA), recycled brick aggregate (RBA), and steel slag aggregate (SSA). The utilisation of these materials in stone columns can be considered an environment-friendly and cost-effective technique for the disposal of industrial wastes. The performance of stone columns constructed with these industrial waste materials is demonstrated with the help of a unit cell model that consists of soft soil reinforced with these columns. Tests are carried out to determine the load-settlement behaviour of the columns with different combinations of waste aggregates. The performance of a stone column mainly depends upon the properties of the aggregates such as frictional angle, crushing value, and durability. These properties of the industrial waste aggregates were obtained from the laboratory tests and their effect on stone column performance was analysed. From the results, it was observed that stone columns based upon RCA, RBA, and SSA improve the load-carrying capacity by 265%, 204%, and 210%, respectively. Moreover, while using these waste aggregates in combinations (viz., RCA-RBA and RCA-SSA) to optimise the material, similar results were obtained. Hence, it is concluded that the material can be used in stone columns up to limited extent as per project requirements.