Physical Modeling of Cone Penetration in Layered Sand
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 144, Issue 1
Abstract
This paper presents the results of cone penetration tests performed in layered, uniformly graded silica sand samples prepared inside a calibration chamber specifically designed for digital image correlation (DIC) analysis. The tests aimed to investigate the effect of a layer interface on the cone penetration resistance as well as on the soil displacement and deformation fields resulting from cone penetration. The results, which are also of interest in connection with the calculation of the base resistance of piles embedded in bearing layers, are interpreted based on the sensing distance and development distance concepts. The results show that the sensing and development distances are affected by the density of the soil on either side of the layer interface. Based on the results obtained in this paper, the sensing and development distances are of the order of 2.2–5.4 cone diameters. The vertical displacement profile next to the shaft of the penetrating cone changes significantly near the layer interface, which implies that the vertical displacement profile can be used to identify the presence of a layer interface in a DIC test. The incremental displacement and deformation analyses within the sensing distance show that, when the cone starts sensing the underlying sand layer, the average direction of the soil displacement rotates toward the underlying layer for strong-over-weak layers and away from it for weak-over-strong layers. It is also observed that the size of the shear strain bulb next to the cone surface increases when reaching a strong layer and decreases when reaching a weak layer.
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Acknowledgments
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0969949. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. The authors are very grateful for this support.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 144 • Issue 1 • January 2018
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 21, 2016
Accepted: Jun 30, 2017
Published online: Nov 2, 2017
Published in print: Jan 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Apr 2, 2018
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