Practical Visual Presentation Approach for CPT-Based Soil Characterization and Modeling

In the last two decades, Cone Penetration Test (CPT) based analysis and modeling became a popular and handy tool for geotechnical engineers for subsurface investigations and soil characterization. Several CPT soil classification methods gained wide acknowledgement for this type of analysis including the Schmertmann (1978), the Robertson et al. (1986), and the Zhang and Tumay Probabilistic (1999) methods. Most of the CPT-Based analysis software packages use one or more of these methods to analyze and model data sets. However, there is no visual method available that can provide an analysis and combined presentation using different methods. Considering the individual strengths and weaknesses of the methods, using a comparative and collective approach can provide a more realistic interpretation and analysis of data sets. This paper presents a practical visual presentation approach that utilizes different characterization methods and provides a collective but clear presentation. The approach uses a new standardized color coding system to achieve comparative and comprehensive presentation of the model results. Modeling and analysis of two sample sites are included in the paper to illustrate the approach.