Numerical analysis of stone columns made with steel slag

One of the most effective solutions to prevent liquefaction-induced damage is stone column applications. With stone column applications both the drainage capacity and the relative density of the soils increase. Thus, excessive pore water pressure created under dynamic loads is reduced and damage caused by liquefaction is minimized. In the finite element method, which is widely used in Civil Engineering, soil behavior can be modeled by using advanced soil models, and stress distributions can be determined more realistically with the deformations in the soil. The hypoplastic material model was used to see pore water pressure formations under dynamic loads in the analyzes performed in this study. However, a three-dimensional two-phase element (u20p8) has been defined in the program to enable the use of this model, which is not defined in the ANSYS program. In the study, steel slag obtained from basic oxygen furnaces (BOF), which is one of the waste materials of the steel production process, was used as an alternative for the stone column material. It is one of the by-products of steel mills obtained in the steel production process during the purification of molten iron from unwanted elements. The effect of steel slag columns to prevent liquefaction in soils under dynamic loads has been investigated and it has been observed that although the performance of them is slightly lower than that of stone columns, they can be used as an alternative if appropriate designs are obtained and used. In addition, by performing parametric analysis for stone and steel slag columns, it has been determined that parameters such as area ratio, hydraulic conductivity and relative density increase their performance. With this study, it is aimed to contribute to the recycling of steel slags by opening a new area of using for them.