Effect of Soil Type on Standard Penetration Test Input Energy

Abstract

Due to the frequent use of the standard penetration test, efforts have been made to standardize the test using energy measurements with electronic calibrators. These calibrators integrate the force-time waveform over the first compression wave. It has been suggested that soil type does not affect this integration. Using a common wave equation computer program and input parameters verified by previous work, the effect of soft and hard clay, and hard sand on the first compression waveform were studied. The results of this study indicate that the signatures of stress during the first compression wave were significantly affected by the soil type. These results match well with the expected results from the application of reflected wave theory.