Numerical study of viscous effects during CPTu

Abstract

Variable penetration rates during CPTu may impact cone readings through partial consolidation during penetration but also through viscous soil skeleton behaviour. The latter phenomenon is characteristic of dynamic penetrometers during fast penetration in fine-grained materials where tip resistance increases when the penetration rate increases. In this work, the effect of viscosity on piezocone penetration is investigated based on the numerical simulation of CPTu and triaxial tests using the application G-PFEM and a viscoplastic version of the Clay and Sand Model (CASM). The study highlights that the CPTu results are sensitive to the material parameters controlling viscosity, thus requiring careful calibration in order to obtain realistic CPTu simulations.

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