Assessment of the Coefficient of Lateral Earth Pressure at Rest (K_o) from Seismic Piezocone Tests (SCPTU)

This paper presents an attempt to evaluate the feasibility of predicting the K₀ value of natural soil deposits on the basis of the measured shear wave velocities from the seismic piezocone penetration tests (SCPTU). The original relationship between K₀ and the shear wave velocity established based on the existed test results was used to predict K₀ of those two well-documented sites. Shear wave velocities from both cross-hole seismic and SCPTU were used. A good match between prediction and measured test results of this study explains the versatility and potential of SCPTU method to interpret K₀ of both clayey and sandy soils. Eventually, effects of soil types and OCR on the comparisons are also discussed, and the relationships between K₀ and OCR have been proposed for the two soil deposits.