Marcio S. S. Almeida’ and Richard H. G. Parry? Small Cone Penetrometer Tests and Piezocone Tests in Laboratory Consolidated Clays REFERENCE: Almeida, M. 5. $. and Pary, 8. H. G., “Small Cone Prnatrometer Tests and Piexocone Tests in Laboratory Consolidated Clays,” Geotectnicl Texting ournet, GTHODI, Vol. 8 No. 1, March 1985, pp. 1024 ABSTRACT: Smt vane, 10-mm-diameter cane penetrometer and 12.7anm-diamerer piezacone devices have been develope to measure soll properties in centrifuge models during flight, This paper presents {ests with these devices on haclin and Gault cay in 8 normal gravity Field, Empirical cone factors were shown to increase with increasing overconssidation eatio But were found to depend on other fastore such ‘scone site ad testing rates, The caes alo differed considerably be tween the (80 clays used. Tests with the small plezocone have shown {hat the ato of pore pressure to point resistance Gecreases slightly with the overconsolidation ratio, but ot enough for tht ratio be Wied as a method for determining overcomoliation ratio (OCR), Ar shown by other workers. pore pressures acting around the tp influence meastred tip resistance and should br taken into accont when interpreting cone resistances in clas. Dissipation tests with have jelded values of coeiient of consoldation agreeing very nll with those form Seling tess om ea cakes, KEYWORDS: cays, cone penetrometer, pore pressure, vanes, coef lent of consolidation, cone eevntance, Susipition, overconsolidation ‘alo. plezocone, rate of penetration Nomenclature a Net area ratio A Area ¢h Coefficient of horizontal consolidation ¢qUndrained shear strength Coefficient of consolidation D._ Diameter of the vane blade G Sherr modulus of soi! Empirical cone factors Py All around pressure Ge. Point resistance Modified point resistance R Radius ofthe piezocone probe Time Time factor Degree of consolidation Pore pressure Increment oral stress Effective stress "associate professor, Post Graduation Schoo}, COPPE-UFRL, Federal Universi of io de lair, Cx Postal 68806, 21944, Rio 4@Jancio, Broil Engineering Department, Cambridge University, Trumpington St (CBr PZ Cambridge, England. or49.6115/@8/0003.0014802.50 " Introduction H correct undrained strengths of clay models used for centrifuge tests are to be obtained, these have to be measured uring centr- {uge Hight [7]. Clay models tested inthe centrifuge ate usually pre- pared with reconstituted soil, ané at Cambridge kaolin and Gault ‘lay are most commonly used for this purpose. These two sols have been used recently [2,3] in connection with centrifugal modeling, ‘ofembankments on sft clays, and parallel investigations are being sade to determine suitable io techniques for se in the contrifuge. Vane and penetrometer equipments, Mark I, have been devel- oped to measure the resistance of clay models during centrifuge tests [1,3]. Tessin the laboratory in a normal gravity fet using these ealy devices were performed {5] to investigate a number of aspects of vane and penetrometer testing in reconstituted kaolin lay. The influence af factors, such as vane geomety, vane rotation rate, and time between stopping and rotating the vane, were inves tigated, a€ well asthe rate of penetration in penetrometer test. It was found in these studies that significant sha friction was affect- ing results of both vane and penetrometer tests. An improved Mark II vane and a Mark IL penettometer were designed as result of these previous programs of testing. A piezo cone probe capable of simultaneously measuring point resistance and pore pressures was also developed. Results of tests in Kaolin and Ganit clay using these apparatus are reported here. The main abjecives of these studies are (1) to provide correlations between shear stenaths, point resistances, and overconsolidstion rato: (2) to investigate the possiblity of a future use of a miniature cone during centrifuge tests; (3) to obtain information regarding pore pressures developed during cone penetration tests; and (4) 10 investigate the effects of rate of penetration on point resistance. Dissipation tests were also performed withthe piezocone, which allowed computations of the coefficient of horizontal consolidation using an available theoretical solution (6. Experimental curves of disipation were also compared with theoretical ones. Results of the program of tests reported here have been impor- tant in helping to interpret vane and penetrometer tests performed uring centrifuge fight (7. Vane Apparatus ‘The vane apparatus Mark IT used here is an improved version of the Mark I apparatus described by Davies and Parry {/] ‘Assen in Fig. 1, the apparatus consists of the mainframe devel- ‘oped for the Mark T vane with triangular spacing plates at both ‘ends and a moving platform in between the spacing plates. A IS-V ‘© 1985 by the American Society for Testing and Materials2 Sgptacenne ersaaucor § metig stee Serge meer & povkes Flatiore FIG. 1—Vane apparatus Muck I DC motor connected to a gearing system drives the moving plat form and thus the vane at a constant rate of 0.25 mam/s int the clay, The moving platform is triangular in plan and moves verti- cally guided by three vertical rods. A DC potenttometer displace: ment transducer fixed to the top ofthe frame monitors the vertical ‘movement of the platform, and hence the penetration of the vane. A 6-V DC reversible motor connected to the vane shaft through @ beating rotates the vane at 72°/min, ‘The improvements over the Mark I device as described in detail bby Almeida and Perry [5] are (1) blades of smaller heights (18 mm diameter by 14 me high), which make possible @ better definition of the strength profile by providing more data points: (2) direct ‘measurement of the rate of rotation using a rotary potentiometer and nylon gears connected to the potentiometer and vane shaft; and (3) separation of the torques mobilized by blades and shaft using a slip coupling, ‘The vane shaft is hollow at its top. and over adength of 10 mm near the top a thinner wall is machined and four strain gages bonded to measure torque, Bofore testing, the shaft is lubricated with silicone grease, Penetrometer Apparatus ‘The travelling part of the vane apparatus was modified to incor- porate a cone penctrometer or a piezocone. Tests with cone pene: (wometer Mark II were performed in kaolin, and tests with the plezocone were performed in Gault clay. ‘Cone penetrometer Mark II has two load cells located at the ex- ‘remities of the penetrometer (Fig. 2). The point resistance is mea sured by Load Cell close to the cone tip, and the total load inchud= ing side fiction is recorded by Load Cell 11. The stvain gages were arranged on the load eel to provide compensation for temperacare ALMEIDA AND PARRY ON CONSOLIDATED CLAYS 18 and (0 ensure that the load celis were unaffected by bending stresses acting on the probe. This was accomplished by using two strain gages in each arm of the fully active bridge, The Mark [} cone is 10 mm in diameter, ‘A piezocone probe has been developed to measure simultane- ‘ously point resistance and pore pressure during penetration. It has not yet been used in the centrifuge but will be available for future tests. The value of the piezocone for in situ investigation of clay foundations has been pointed out by several researeh workers 18,9]. The ability o evaluate the coefficient of consolidation during. dissipation tess isan important feature of this instrument. ‘The miniature piezocone is shown in Fig. 3. Icis mounted with a rosette load cell located at the top of the penetrometer. A stiff in {ermal rod transmits the load carried by the tip tothe top load cell, ‘The four webs of the load cel are subjected to bending stresses and produce signal outputs that are ten times higher than the outputs produced by the load cells used in penetrometer Mark IL. The r0- sette fond cell was provided with a full bridge circuit with two strain gages in each arm of the bridge and compensated for temperature effects. The piezocone is 12.7 mam in diameter, ‘The porous element was laceted a: the tip of the plezocone, as this gave the simplest design for a miniature probe. The pore pressure transducer used in the piezocone was a PDCR 81 Druck pressure transducer with silicon chip sensor, which ensures very fast response time when properly deaired, A very small gap exists between the back of the porous element and the eransducer diae phragm. The deairing of the complete system was done under vac ‘uum, and this proved to be very satisfactory. Water Pressure Effects in Penetrumerer Tips ‘The penetrometer probes were calibrated under dead load and Also under all around water pressure applied to the cone tip (Fig. 4). Results of calibration of the penetomerers Mark I] and piezo cone under chamber pressure are shown in Figs, Su and b. It is ‘observed that the recotded apparent point resistance ge is smaller than the applied all around pressure p,. because the water pres- sure acting on the recessed top of the cone tip decreases measured Point resistance (Fig. 4). This may be direct chamber pressure or pressure from the flexible seal eaused by the chamber pressure act- ing on it. This problem, which affects in varying degrees all exist- lng designs of cones, has been pointed out by Campanella etal [7] ‘and Baligh etal L//]. Ratios g/pe obiained from the calibrations are 0.63 and 0.61 for penetrometers Mark 11 and plezocone, respectively. Assuming that the full all around pressure is transmitced to the recessed top, the foliowing equation can be written (Fig. 4) geA2 + PglA2 — Ad) 2 o where A, and Ap are the areas shoxn in Fig. 4. Rewriting Eq 1 gives ibe =a 2 where. Ar @ ‘The value ofa for penetrometer Mark Il is 0.64, which compares well with the measured value of g./p,, = 0.63. If the full chamber pressure is mot transmited to the recessed top, q./p, will be greater46 GEOTECHNICAL TESTING JOURNAL LY ar can wo ee TO we. Nos a os iN + : »| N Vo Gi 1 Y Y — FIG. 2—Cune pene than a. That is the case with the piezoccine, where 9, /p, obtained from the calibration is 0.6) and the value ofa is 0.50. A slurry of Spestshite Kaolin (see details in Table 1) was pre- pared with an initial water content af 122%, by mixing the powder with deionized water fora period of 2h. The kaolin clay cake was consolidated to 150 kPa in the 850-mm-diameter consolidomeret |__-ppt. cable Interv stat) —| POCR 1 ORUCK ore pressure fransducer sikeane rubber seal ed way | etment 0" cone FIG. 3—Pizsorone. oo cA ¢ AN CO rameter Mark H show in Fig 6. The Gault cay surry was prepared with an inital water content of 89.2% and,was consolidated 10 126 kPa sce de- tails in Table 1), also in the consolidometer shown in Fig. 6 Twelve plugs on the rop of the piston allowed cone and vane texts to be ceried out under applied vertical pressure. These plugs had 2 tapered hole in which guide plugs were screwed to guide the cone and vane shafts during test. Guide plugs were ned with phospho: rous bronze to minimize friction with shafts, Additionally, pene- tromeser and vane shafts were liberally covered with silicone grease, The setup used to perform penetrometer (oF vane) tests is shown in Fig. 7. The penetrometer (or vane) apparatus is sup. ported by a frame that sits on the border of the consoidometer where it was clamped, The centers of the plugs were in a pitch ce II eter pressure py FIG, 4—Secup jor euibruion wider all eroud pressure