Abstract:
Recently, quarry dust has been widely used as a ground improvement technique to replace the
weak, incompetent soil under shallow foundations when there is a high groundwater table or weak soil. Practical
approaches suggest that a poker vibrator can be used easily, to achieve a higher Degree of Compaction
(DOC) in quarry dust, under saturated condition. However, as this technique is still novel to the industry, the
expected results cannot be guaranteed. It is therefore essential to eliminate inappropriate practice by carrying
out laboratory experiments on optimum poker vibration application techniques. The aim of this study was to
optimize the effectiveness of poker vibrator in shallow foundation design by studying the variation of factors
affecting it, including time of application, shape of the foundation, preferable layer thicknesses and application
patterns of vibrators. According to the test results, the optimum period of compaction for poker vibration is
around 35s/point. DOC increases with increasing application points and reduces with increasing initial layer
thickness, regardless of pattern.
Citation:
Sampath, K.H.S.M., & De Silva, L.I.N. (2016). Effective applications of poker vibrator for compacting quarry dust as a ground improvement technique. In M.T.P. Hettiarachchi (Ed.), Proceedings of the Civil Engineering Research Symposium 2016 (pp. 9-12). Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa.