Improvement of granular soils by high-energy impact

Abstract

A recently developed wave equation model for analysing the improvement of granular soils by high-energy impact is used to perform a parametric study to investigate the ground response during dynamic compaction. The important parameters investigated include the pounder base area, pounder weight, drop height, number of drops and initial soil properties within the practical range in a dynamic compaction project. This study provides a better understanding of the influence of the various parameters studied on the ground response during high-energy impact. The characteristic curves developed will enable a design engineer to determine the crater depth, and level and depth of soil improvement that will facilitate the selection of operational parameters.