Analysis of Cone Pressuremeter Tests in Sands

Abstract

This paper presents an interpretation method for determining sand properties from the cone tip resistance and the pressuremeter limit pressure measured with the cone pressuremeter. The method developed here can be used to deduce the angle of internal soil friction and in-situ sand state from the ratio of measured cone tip resistance and pressuremeter limit pressure. In developing the theoretical correlations between soil strength parameters and the cone pressuremeter test results, the limit pressures of both spherical and cylindrical cavity expansions in sand are used to estimate the cone tip resistance and the pressuremeter limit pressure, respectively. The relevance of this simple interpretation method has been confirmed by the results of a large number of cone and pressuremeter tests carried out in both calibration chambers and the field.