Probabilistic Soil Strata Delineation Using DPT Data and Bayesian Changepoint Detection
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 149, Issue 4
Abstract
Soil strata delineation is a fundamental step for any geotechnical engineering design. The dynamic penetration test (DPT) is a fast, low cost in situ test that is commonly used to locate boundaries between strata of differing density and driving resistance. However, DPT data are often noisy and typically require time-consuming, manual interpretation. This paper investigates a probabilistic method that enables delineation of dissimilar soil strata (where each stratum is deemed to belong to different soil groups based on their particle size distribution) by processing DPT data with Bayesian changepoint detection methods. The accuracy of the proposed method is evaluated using DPT data from a real-world case study, which highlights the potential of the proposed method. This study provides a methodology for faster DPT-based soil strata delineation, which paves the way for more cost-effective geotechnical designs.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge Deutsche Bahn AG and Dr. Aloys Kisse for the use of the test data for research purposes. Oriol Ciurana (OSI) is gratefully acknowledged in the development of the 3D ground model referred to herein. The third author is funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering under the Research Fellowship scheme.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 149 • Issue 4 • April 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 1, 2022
Accepted: Dec 15, 2022
Published online: Feb 8, 2023
Published in print: Apr 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Jul 8, 2023
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