Pressuremeter and Laboratory Test Correlations for Clays

Field pressuremeter tests plus laboratory consolidation and shear strength tests were performed in clayey soil deposits that ranged from slightly to highly overconsolidated. The shear strength as measured by an unconfined compressive strength test was found to be related to the pressuremeter parameters by the following relation: pl - p_o=2.55 qu. The preconsolidation pressure as determined by a conventional consolidation tests was found to be equal to the creep pressure as measured by the pressuremeter test. Although the test results are somewhat scattered, the experimental relation between the pressuremeter modulus, E_d, and the constrained reload modulus, D_c, is approx 4.5E_d≤D_c≤6.0E_d.