Site-Specific CPT-Based Fines Content Correlations Using Percentile Matching
Publication: Geo-Congress 2022
ABSTRACT
Correlations relating laboratory measured fines content (FC) from borehole samples with soil behavior type index (IC) measurements from cone penetration tests (CPTs) have large uncertainties. Improved estimates of FC can be important for evaluating liquefaction resistance for use in simplified liquefaction vulnerability index (LVI) calculations or nonlinear dynamic analyses (NDAs). Application of regression-based correlations can be especially problematic in thinly interlayered soil deposits, where spatial variability of soil behavior is greater and measurements may be unreliable. This study introduces a user-informed approach to developing site-specific CPT-based correlations for FC estimation using accompanying borehole data, including visual classifications and laboratory test results. It uses a percentile matching framework to honor the cumulative distributions of FC and IC. This approach has the potential to reduce biases related to spatial variability between adjacent CPT-boring pairs, insufficient or non-representative sampling, and model applicability. The approach is evaluated using data from several sites in Christchurch, New Zealand, and shown to generally improve LVI predictions for liquefaction manifestation during the 2010 Darfield and 2011 Christchurch earthquakes.
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Geo-Congress 2022
Pages: 549 - 558
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Published online: Mar 17, 2022
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