Pore Pressure Dissipation Induced by High-Velocity Impacts of a Portable Free-Fall Penetrometer in Clays
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 146, Issue 9
Abstract
In situ pore pressure dissipation in soil primarily depends on the coefficient of consolidation and permeability of the soil. This study represents an initial effort to investigate pore pressure dissipation induced by high-velocity impacts of a portable free-fall penetrometer (pFFP), and to explore the applicability of existing solutions, developed for cone penetration testing (CPT), for estimating the coefficient of consolidation. For this purpose, pFFP data from four test sites across North America were reviewed, and the same pFFP was deployed in a large fabricated and instrumented clay sample. In the laboratory, pore pressure recordings from four pressure transducers placed in the clay sample surrounding the path of the pFFP were obtained in addition to recordings of the pFFP transducer in the position. Pore pressure dissipation behavior in line with dilatory dissipation was observed, characterized by an initial increase in pore pressures and a subsequent decrease. The dissipation curves were interpreted using a square-root time extrapolation technique from the literature. The results suggest that the square-root time extrapolation technique appears suitable for the interpretation of data from pFFP dissipation tests. Challenges regarding obtaining high-quality pressure data using pFFP, as well as regarding full-scale testing in the laboratory, are discussed. Among other observations, the preliminary data suggest that data impacted by issues in the filter may be interpreted using the same technique, although it will lead to overprediction of the time to 50% consolidation.
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Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge funding through the Fulbright Foreign Student Program administered by International Institute of Education (IIE), the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP), the National Sciences Foundation (NSF) through Grants OCE-1434938 and IIA-142661, and Virginia Tech’s Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Sciences (ICTAS). The authors also thank Dan Stilwell and Cagdas Bilici (both VT) for their support in the field, and Stephen Smyth (blueCDesigns) for discussions regarding pore pressure effects. The authors would also like to thank Grace Massey and Carl Friedrichs (Virginia Institute for Marine Sciences), Rhonda Coston and Erving Grass (City and Borough of Yakutat), and Hugues Lantuit (Alfred-Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Sciences) for support at the respective field locations. The authors would like to acknowledge two anonymous reviewers and the associate editor who provided detailed and constructive comments that benefitted the article.
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 146 • Issue 9 • September 2020
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©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Dec 31, 2018
Accepted: Jan 24, 2020
Published online: Jun 18, 2020
Published in print: Sep 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Nov 18, 2020
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