Abstract: A new analytical solution is presented to study soft soil improvement by means of encased stone columns to reduce both settlement and consolidation time. The proposed solution aims to be a simple and useful tool for design. Only a unit cell, i.e. an end-bearing column and its surrounding soil, is modelled in axial symmetry under a rigid and uniform load. The soft soil is treated as an elastic material and the column as an elastic?plastic material using the Mohr?Coulomb yield criterion and a non-associated flow rule, with a constant dilatancy angle. An elasto-plastic behaviour is also considered for the encasement by means of a limit tensile strength. The solution is presented in a closed form and is directly usable in a spreadsheet. Parametric studies of the settlement reduction, stress concentration and consolidation time show the efficiency of column encasement, which is mainly ruled by the encasement stiffness compared to that of the soil. Column encasement is equally useful for common area replacement ratios but columns of smaller diameters are better confined. Furthermore, the applied load should be limited to prevent the encasement from reaching its tensile strength limit. A simplified formulation of the solution is developed assuming drained condition. The results are in agreement with numerical analyses.

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