Abstract

In cone penetration testing (CPT) an electronic penetrometer is pushed at a constant rate into penetrable soils and cone bearing (qc), sleeve friction (fc) and dynamic pore pressure (u) are recorded with depth. The measured qc, fs and u values are utilized to estimate soil type and associated properties. Cone tips have areas which vary from 5cm2 to 40 cm2. The larger tips allow for the penetration of gravely soils while small cone tips are utilized for shallow soil investigations. The measured cone bearing and sleeve friction values are blurred or averaged. The measurements are also susceptible to anomalous peaks and troughs due to the relatively small diameter cone tip penetrating sandy, silty and gravelly soils. The cones with relatively smaller cone tips are significantly more susceptible to the anomalous peaks and troughs while the cones with larger cone tips are more susceptible to the smoothing of the cone tip and sleeve friction measurements. Baziw Consulting Engineers (BCE) has invested considerable resources in addressing the qc and fs measurements distortions. This paper outlines the techniques developed by BCE and integrates them so that optimal soil properties can be obtained from CPT data sets. Particular focus is put on relatively larger cone tips because they can penetrate soils with high resistance and are less susceptible to the additive measurement noise of anomalous peaks and troughs. The anomalous peaks and troughs are more challenging to remove or minimize than the qc and fs blurring effects. It is of paramount importance to first implement newly developed signal processing and optimal estimation algorithms on extensive test bed simulations prior to processing real data sets. This paper also outlines the results from processing a challenging test bed simulation of a 40 cm2 cone tip data set with BCE’s newly developed algorithms.

Abstract

In cone penetration testing (CPT) an electronic penetrometer is pushed at a constant rate into penetrable soils and cone bearing (qc), sleeve friction (fc) and dynamic pore pressure (u) are recorded with depth. The measured qc, fs and u values are utilized to estimate soil type and associated properties. Cone tips have areas which vary from 5cm2 to 40 cm2. The larger tips allow for the penetration of gravely soils while small cone tips are utilized for shallow soil investigations. The measured cone bearing and sleeve friction values are blurred or averaged. The measurements are also susceptible to anomalous peaks and troughs due to the relatively small diameter cone tip penetrating sandy, silty and gravelly soils. The cones with relatively smaller cone tips are significantly more susceptible to the anomalous peaks and troughs while the cones with larger cone tips are more susceptible to the smoothing of the cone tip and sleeve friction measurements. Baziw Consulting Engineers (BCE) has invested considerable resources in addressing the qc and fs measurements distortions. This paper outlines the techniques developed by BCE and integrates them so that optimal soil properties can be obtained from CPT data sets. Particular focus is put on relatively larger cone tips because they can penetrate soils with high resistance and are less susceptible to the additive measurement noise of anomalous peaks and troughs. The anomalous peaks and troughs are more challenging to remove or minimize than the qc and fs blurring effects. It is of paramount importance to first implement newly developed signal processing and optimal estimation algorithms on extensive test bed simulations prior to processing real data sets. This paper also outlines the results from processing a challenging test bed simulation of a 40 cm2 cone tip data set with BCE’s newly developed algorithms.