Efficacy of Pervious Concrete Columns Vis-A-Vis Stone Columns in Sandy Strata in Mitigating Liquefaction

Abstract

Liquefaction-induced lateral spreading is reported in many places over the world and is a major earthquake hazard. Stone columns or granular piles are recommended for mitigating earthquake-induced liquefaction. Lately, an innovative ground improvement method in the form of pervious concrete columns is being proposed as an alternative to conventional stone columns. Pervious concrete columns are reported to have similar properties as that of rigid piles but with hydraulic conductivity similar to that of stone columns. Therefore, this paper presents the comparison between seismic performances of pervious concrete columns and stone columns in sandy strata. Transient analysis of three-dimensional finite element models of sand strata improved with pervious concrete columns and stone columns is carried out to evaluate the liquefaction mitigation potential of these two methods of ground improvement. The effect of permeability ranges of column inclusions and permeability ranges of sand strata on lateral displacement ratio are also presented. The liquefaction-induced lateral displacement of sand strata with pervious concrete column is significantly lesser than the lateral displacement of stone column improved sand strata. The lateral displacement ratio of pervious concrete column improved sand strata is found to be independent of permeability of pervious concrete column and also not influenced by the permeability of surrounding sand strata. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.