ASSIGNMENT # 1

VARIOUS TYPES OF PENETROMETERS

Submitted To : Sir Mubashir Aziz

Submitted By : UBAID AHMED MUGHAL 2007-CIVIL-44

UBAID AHMED MUGHAL 2007-CIVIL-44

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents
ASSIGNMENT # 1 ........................................................................................................................................................ 1
VARIOUS TYPES OF PENETROMETERS ....................................................................................................................... 1
Submitted To : Sir Mubashir Aziz ........................................................................................................................... 1
Submitted By : UBAID AHMED MUGHAL 2007-CIVIL-44........................................................................................ 1
1) DILATOMETER ........................................................................................................................................... 3
Working & Explanation ...................................................................................................................................... 3
Improvements in Dilato-meter .......................................................................................................................... 4
Soils Parameters................................................................................................................................................. 4
Advantages ......................................................................................................................................................... 4
Disadvantages .................................................................................................................................................... 4
2) PRESSEUR METER ........................................................................................................................................... 5
Types of Pressure meters ................................................................................................................................... 5
Parameters Obtained ......................................................................................................................................... 6
Advantages ......................................................................................................................................................... 6
Disadvantages .................................................................................................................................................... 6
3) STANDARD PENETROMETER .......................................................................................................................... 6
Description and test procedure ......................................................................................................................... 6
Advantages ......................................................................................................................................................... 6
Disadvantages .................................................................................................................................................... 7
4) CONE PENETROMETER ................................................................................................................................... 8
Types of Cone penetration Tests ........................................................................................................................... 8
Parameters Obtained ............................................................................................................................................. 8
Advantages ......................................................................................................................................................... 8
Disadvantages .................................................................................................................................................... 8

UBAID AHMED MUGHAL 2007-CIVIL-44

 1) DILATOMETER

A dilatometer test consists of pushing a flat blade

located at the end of a series of rods. Once at the testing
depth, a circular steel membrane located on one side of
the blade is expanded horizontally into the soil. The
pressure is recorded at specific moments during the test.
The blade is then advanced to the next test depth. Dr.
Silvano Marchetti invented the Flat Dilatometer in 1975
and was improved by Dr. Aziz Akbar

Working & Explanation

A Flat Dilatometer probe consists in a steel blade with a circular membrane in one of its sides.
The membrane has electrical sensors which can detect its position (flexed to the inside or outside and
parallel to the blade).This blade is pushed into the ground and at desired depths the membrane is inflated
using any kind of compressed gas, normally nitrogen. When the probe is pushed into the ground the soil
pressure makes the membrane flex to the inside of the dilatometer blade. At measurement depths the
membrane is inflated and an "A" reading of pressure is obtained when the membrane reaches its initial
position (parallel to the blade), and a "B" reading is obtained when the membrane displaces 1.1 mm to
the outside. This parameters are used in several correlations to obtain properties of the soil, such as
compressibility and soil behaviour classification. The following figure depicts a normal flat dilatometer
sounding.

UBAID AHMED MUGHAL 2007-CIVIL-44

Improvements in Dilato-meter
 Dilato-meter was improved by Dr. Aziz Akbar.
 SDMT had a rubber membrane which could be damaged if gravels are encountered while
expansion. SDMT was suitable for soft soils only.
 Dr. Aziz Akbar replaced the rubber membrane by a metallic piston. This rigid piston is operated
on the basis of magnetic flux.
 This improved form of dilato-meter gives satisfactory results for clays, silts as well as gravels.
 ANDMT can directly measure in-situ soil characteristics such as strength, stiffness and
deformation.
 The limit for the value of displacement is 1.1 mm.

Soils Parameters

THE DMT determines these soil parameters:

 Tangent modulus
 Lateral stress
 Pre consolidation stress Marchett
 Water table and pressure (sands) i
 Soil stratigraphy
 Un drained shear strength (clays)
 Drained friction angle (sands)
 Young’s Modulus
 Quick settlement calculations
 Compaction control
 P-y curves for laterally loaded piles
 The in-situ stiffness Akbar’s
 Strength
 Stress history parameters of soil for better site characterization, reducing overall project cost and
improving design reliability.
 It also gives the engineer nearly continuous depth-profiles of these important soil properties.
Both researchers and practitioners have complemented the accuracy and breadth of the
Dilatometer, now in wide spread use throughout the world.

Advantages
 Yields in a short time a large volume of test data, working from either an SPT or CPT rig.
 Test results presented in familiar parameters for easy presentation to client.
 Substitute for "undisturbed" sampling and testing. The DMT is quicker, less expensive, and
provides depth profile of tests.
 Nearly continuous profiles of the soil parameters for design (especially settlement calculations!).
 Reduce lab testing delays and eliminate concerns about operator-induced error.
 Direct measurement of settlement and strength parameters.

Disadvantages
 No Sample Is recovered.
 Blade penetration effects the strength , stiffness.
 Results of DMT are affected if the blade dirts out from the vertical during penetration.

UBAID AHMED MUGHAL 2007-CIVIL-44

 2) PRESSEUR METER
Developed by Maynard in 1956. The pressure meter
test is an in-situ testing method which is commonly used to
achieve a quick and easy measure of the in-situ stress-strain
relationship of the soil which provides parameters such as
the elastic modulus. The pressuremeter test is an in-situ
testing method used to achieve a quick measure of the in-
situ stress-strain relationship of the soil. In principle, the
pressuremeter test is performed by applying pressure to the
sidewalls of a borehole and observing the corresponding
deformation. ASTM D4719
The pressuremeter consists of two parts, the read-out unit
which rests on the ground surface, and the probe that is
inserted into the borehole (ground). The original Ménard-
type pressuremeter was designed to be
lowered into a performed hole and to
apply uniform pressure to the borehole
walls by means of inflatable flexible
membrane. As the pressure increases, the
borehole walls deform. The pressure is
held constant for a given period and the
increase in volume required for
maintaining the constant pressure is
recorded. A load-deformation diagram and
soil characteristics can be deduced by
measurement of the applied pressure and
change in the volume of the expanding
membrane.

Types of Pressure meters

 Maynard Pressure meter
 Self Boring Pressure meter
 Skew boring Pressure meter

The major difference between categories of pressuremeter lies in the method f installation
of the instrument into the ground. Three main types of pressuremeters are:

 The borehole pressuremeter: The instrument is inserted into a performed hole.

 The self-boring pressuremeter: The instrument is self-bored into the ground with the
purpose of minimizing the sol disturbance caused by insertion.
 Displacement pressuremeters: The instrument is pushed into the ground from base of a
borehole. The soil displaced by the probe during insertion enters the body of instrument,
reducing the disturbance to the surrounding soil

UBAID AHMED MUGHAL 2007-CIVIL-44

Parameters Obtained
 Lift of Pressure
 Yield of Pressure
 Limit Pressure

Advantages
 Allows assessment of in-situ horizontal stress.
 Allows direct measurement of shear stiffness and un drained Strength.
 Well conditions boundary conditions.

Disadvantages
 Not very cheap.
 Operators need to be skilled.
 An appreciable amount of data processing is required.

3) STANDARD PENETROMETER
The Standard Penetration test (SPT) is a common in situ testing method used to determine
the geotechnical engineering properties of subsurface soils. It is a simple and inexpensive test to
estimate the relative density of soils and approximate shear strength parameters.

 Most Frequently used and cheapest of all available tests.

 Developed in 1927 and standardised in 1958
 ASTM D1586

Description and test procedure

Standard Penetration Test, SPT, involves

driving a standard thick-walled sample tube into the
ground at the bottom of a borehole by blows from a
slide hammer with standard weight and falling
distance. The sample tube is driven 150 mm into the
ground and then the number of blows needed for the
tube to penetrate each 150 mm (6 in) up to a depth
of 450 mm (18 in) is recorded. The sum of the
number of blows required for the second and third 6
in. of penetration is reported as SPT blow count
value, commonly termed "standard penetration
resistance" or the "N-value".

The N-value provides an indication of the

relative density of the subsurface soil, and it is used
in empirical geotechnical correlation to estimate the
approximate shear strength properties of the soils.

Advantages
 Quick and simple to perform.
 Equipment &Expertise easily available.

UBAID AHMED MUGHAL 2007-CIVIL-44

  Can penetrate into the dense layers, gravel and fill.
 Provides a representative sample.

Disadvantages
 Does not provide continuous data (5ft interval).
 Limited applicability to cohesive soils, gravels, boulders, cobbles.
 A number of corrections have to be applied to get a standard value.

UBAID AHMED MUGHAL 2007-CIVIL-44

 4) CONE PENETROMETER
The CPT test has
become one of the most
common and economical
methods of subsurface
exploration. The cone
penetrometer is pushed into
the ground at a standard
velocity of 2 cm/s and data is
recorded at regular intervals
(typically 2 or 5 cm) during
penetration. The results
provide excellent
stratigraphic detail and
repeatability provided proper
care has been taken in
calibration of the equipment
(transducers and electronics).
The cone penetrometer is
instrumented to record a
number of different
parameters, with the most
common being the force of
the tip, the force of the
sleeve, and the pore pressure behind the tip. Cone penetrometers have also been used to provide
or measure electrical properties, shear wave velocities, visual images of the soil, acoustic
emissions, temperature, and water samples.

 Developed in Netherlands so also called as Dutch Cone Test (DCT)

 ASTM D3441 , ASTM D 5778

Types of Cone penetration Tests

 Mechanical CPT
 Electrical CPT
 Piezo Cone
 Electric Piezo/Friction
 Seismic Cone

Parameters Obtained
 Cone End Resistance “qc”
 Sleeve Resistance “qf”
 Friction Ratio “Fr”

Advantages
 Test can be performed on wide range of soil types.
 .It provides a continuous or near continuous data.

Disadvantages
 Does not provide any soil samples.
 It cannot penetrate into very dense soils or soils containing boulders and cobles.
UBAID AHMED MUGHAL 2007-CIVIL-44