Vibroflotation
When the soil conditions cannot achieve the required bearing capacity, vibro techniques offer an economic solution for the soil improvement.
The choice of the best-adapted technique will be determined mainly by the type of soil and the soil’s water saturation and bearing capacity requirements.
The following graph illustrates the limits of application of the two main Vibro techniques:
- Vibro compaction
- Stone columns
Vibro compaction
For land reclamation and sand compaction the Vibro is suspended for penetration into the ground thanks to its own weight, vibrations and a perforation fluid as water.
The Vibro compaction technique is used in granular soils with limited fines content. This technique uses the Vibro sustained vibrations to rearrange the soil particles of non-cohesive soils into a denser state. The action of the vibrator reduces the inter-granular forces between the soil particles, allowing them to move into a more compact configuration.
Stone column
It is a ground improvement technique used to improve the load bearing capacity and reduce the settlement of the soil. It is also called as granular columns or granular piles.
This technique is also known as vibro replacement. In this technique dense aggregate column (stone columns) is constructed by means of a crane-suspended downhole vibrator.