Performance, Evaluation and Analysis of Granular Pile Foundation for Expansive Soil

Expansive soils are highly problematical as they have likeliness to experience volumetric changes with respect to variations in moisture content. It is regarded to cause damage to various civil engineering structures because of its shrinking and swelling potential when it comes in contact with water. The bearing capacity improvement and the reduction in settlement is observed using granular pile anchor. Hence it is an efficient and effective methods. The bearing capacity or resistance of structures built on expansive soils determines their stability. Ordinary granular piles are incapable of providing resistance to pull-out loads. Granular pile anchor (GPA) was introduced to overcome the problems like settlements, load bearing capacity and swelling of the expansive soils. To resist the pull-out forces, GPA is one of the novel ground improvement technique. By varying the diameter of the stone column, laboratory test was conducted on expansive clay. Numerical modelling was done to study the heave control phenomenon using Plaxis, an analysis software based on finite element method. It was inferred that the numerical analysis was close to the laboratory test outcomes. The results revealed that it decreases swell pressure and settlement with the increase in the diameter of the stone column.