Iranian Journal of Science and Technology - Transactions of Civil Engineering, vol.47, no.2, pp.1125-1137, 2023 (SCI-Expanded)
In this paper, the effect of load transfer platform (LTP) thickness, soil, and column characteristics on the rigid inclusion system (RIS) used for soft ground improvement was separately investigated by 3D numerical models in detail. It was found that increasing the LPT thickness by 100 percent increased the total settlement of RIS by 32%. In addition, increasing the elastic modulus by 100% and the internal friction angle of the LTP by about 17% decreased the amount of total settlement by around 41% and 12%, respectively. The column parameters also affected the overall settlement and load efficiency such that increasing the column elastic modulus (ranging from 0.5 to 10 MPa) resulted in the decrease in total settlement by 59% and the increase in load efficiency by 67%. In general, the rigid inclusion system was found to be as effective as piled raft foundations in overcoming settlement and bearing capacity problems of soft soils.