Settlement of Footings on Sand by CPT Data

Abstract

Prediction of the settlement of soil beneath a foundation is a very important part of foundation design. Several methods of prediction are reviewed, with emphasis on the cone penetration test. Each method requires a soil modulus. The modulus selected for the analysis is very important. Several methods of selecting a modulus are reviewed. Webb, et al., show that the modulus may be related to a qualitative description of the soil and the cone penetration resistance. The results of several other independent investigators are compared to those of Webb, et al., with good agreement. A computer program to calculate the settlement of sands, based on Schmertmann's cone penetration test method, is presented. The program is interactive, is easy to implement, requires 13 K of memory, and runs on a microcomputer. The program can accept 5,000 soil layers. Computerizing Schmertmann's method offers the engineer a practical, cost‐effective way to perform sensitivity studies.