Evaluation on Improvement Zone of Foundation after Dynamic Compaction

Abstract

Dynamic compaction (DC) is one of the most popular methods for ground improvement. To solve the problem of the factors affecting the sandy soil improvement effect and estimate the effective improvement range under DC, the influences of drop number, drop energy, tamping distance, tamper radius, and drop momentum on the relative degree of improvement were investigated. Three normalized indicators △δ_z,i, △δ_A,i, and △δ_U,i were derived to evaluate the weak zone and corresponding improvement effect. For multipoint tamping, it is found that the improvement depth and the improvement of the weak zone are highly correlated with drop energy and drop momentum, while the influence of the drop number and tamper radius is relatively smaller. The improvement of the weak zone and the improvement depth decrease with tamping distance, whereas the improvement area increases with tamping distance. The soil compacted by the previous impact point will be improved to a lesser extent with impact at subsequent impact points. It is also noted that drop energy had better not exceed the saturated drop energy in DC design. Based on the parametric study, a formula considering the various factors of DC was put forward, with the validation by two field cases of DC.