Abstract

Cone penetration tests (CPTs) can provide quantitative information about the mechanical state of sandy soils. In the current state of the art, the soil state is derived from the cone resistance, which is estimated from the cavity expansion solution and a calibrated scaling equation. Recently, Martinelli and Pisano (2022) showed that MPM simulations of CPTs provide accurate values of the cone resistance in sandy soils when using the critical state NorSand model. This paper adopts this framework to develop a predictive equation for cone resistance as a function of the NorSand parameters and the state parameter of the soil. This formula is straightforward to implement, and it can be adopted by researchers and practitioners to assess soil state in a soil deposits.