Stone columns are an efficient ground improvement technique for treating problematic soils. The confidence in the prediction accuracy of bearing capacity remains unsatisfactory. This paper aims to investigate the bearing capacity of single stone column using three-dimensional numerical analysis. Failure modes were observed and the effect of key parameters such as column’s friction angle, undrained shear strength of surrounding soil and modular ratio were investigated. Numerical results showed bulging and a combination of bulging and punching are two dominant failure modes for the single stone column. Ultimate bearing capacity is mainly influenced by the column’s friction angle and the undrained shear strength of the surrounding soil. Based on the results, a new prediction method is developed and compared reasonably well with the existing analytical solution and the field measurements.

中文翻译：

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单石柱承载力的数值研究

石柱是用于处理有问题的土壤的有效地基改良技术。对承载力的预测准确性的信心仍不令人满意。本文旨在利用三维数值分析方法研究单石柱的承载力。观察了破坏模式，研究了柱摩擦角，周围土壤不排水抗剪强度和模量比等关键参数的影响。数值结果表明，凸起和凸起与冲压的结合是单根石柱的两种主要破坏模式。极限承载力主要受柱的摩擦角和周围土壤不排水的剪切强度影响。根据结果​​，