Saturated loose sand and non-plastic silty sand deposits are often vulnerable to liquefaction during earthquakes. Sand deposits densified by vibro-stone column (SC) are more resistant to liquefaction, and have performed well during earthquakes. Silty sand deposits appear to perform well when improved by SC supplemented with wick drains. Wick drains aid dissipation of excess pore pressure induced during SC installation in low-permeable silty soils enhancing densification. This paper presents a numerical model to simulate, and to analyze soil densification during SC installation with and without wick drains. Design charts for SC are developed based on this work. These numerical results are compared with field test data. Design guidelines are presented based on these design charts.
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