Evaluation of Becker penetration test interpretation methods for liquefaction assessment in gravelly soils

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (9) ◽  
pp. 1272-1283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mason Ghafghazi ◽  
Jason T. DeJong ◽  
Daniel W. Wilson

The Becker penetration test (BPT) is the only tool available for characterizing gravelly soils with a probe diameter that is meaningfully larger than that of the standard penetration test (SPT) and the cone penetration test (CPT). Measurements on the BPT system during operation provide information on how penetration is controlled by the driving energy and frictional resistance along the shaft. This has led to development of the instrumented Becker penetration test (iBPT), which uses measurements of force and acceleration obtained directly behind the drill string tip to compute the residual energy and displacement induced by each hammer blow. These measurements are used to produce a continuous profile of normalized blow counts that are repeatable, unaffected by varying driving energy or accumulated shaft resistance, and can be used to directly estimate equivalent SPT N60 blow count values as per DeJong et al. and Ghafghazi et al. in their 2017 studies. The measurements obtained also enabled evaluation of previously developed methods by Harder and Seed in 1986 and Sy and Campanella in 1994. This evaluation revealed that the hammer energy normalization approaches employed by Sy and Campanella and especially Harder and Seed are not robust across the broad range of conditions observed. The predicted equivalent SPT N60 values by Harder and Seed and Sy and Campanella methods are influenced by the shaft resistance magnitude as both methods are based on above-ground field measurements. Estimated N60 values produced by the two methods can be inconsistent with each other, with N60 values produced by the iBPT, and with measured N60 values obtained directly from SPT (where values are obtained in the absence of gravel).

2003 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris R Daniel ◽  
John A Howie ◽  
Alex Sy

The standard penetration test (SPT) split-spoon sampler is too small for investigations in gravelly soils. For this reason, several researchers have developed scaled-up versions of the SPT, commonly referred to as "large penetration tests" (LPT), and attempted to correlate the measured blow counts to SPT blow counts. Several LPTs have been in use worldwide; each with different drill rods, sampler dimensions, and hammer energies; hence existing published LPT–SPT correlations differ for each system. This paper summarizes the LPT data in the literature and presents a fundamental method for predicting LPT–SPT correlations. The proposed method is based on wave equation analyses of SPT and LPT and considers variations in test equipment, penetration resistance, and energy. It is shown that the method provides a unified approach for assimilating the various published LPT–SPT correlations. Additional SPT and LPT data were collected at a sand research site to check the proposed method and to expand the LPT database. The observed and predicted correlation factors are shown to be in good agreement. The proposed correlation method will be useful as a logical framework for the comparison of LPT data collected throughout the world. Additional research will be required to extend this procedure to gravel sites.Key words: large penetration test, LPT, fundamental correlation method, wave equation analysis, grain size effects.


1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
R. Frank ◽  
H. Zervogiannis ◽  
S. Christoulas ◽  
V. Papadopoulos ◽  
N. Kalteziotis

This paper describes the behaviour of two test piles (one bored and postgrouted and one simply bored, both 31.7 m long and 0.75 m in diameter) subjected to horizontal loads. These full-scale pile tests were carried out for the actual design of the pile foundation of a pier of the Evripos cable-stayed bridge. This bridge will link the Euboea Island to mainland Greece. The two piles have already been subjected to bearing capacity tests under axial loadings. The inclinometer measurements, taken during the present tests, yielded, in particular, the deformed shape of the piles as well as the bending moments. Conclusions could be drawn for the final design of the pile foundation with respect to horizontal loadings. Furthermore, various calculation methods using p–y reaction curves for cohesionless soils have been checked: the Ménard pressuremeter method, the method of the American Petroleum Institute recommendations, and the Standard penetration test method of Christoulas. These pile tests show that simple measurements, taken on construction sites, can yield interesting results on the actual behaviour of horizontally loaded piles. Key words : pile, horizontal loading, full-scale test, horizontal loads, bending moment, subgrade reaction modulus, p–y curve, cohesionless soil, Standard penetration test, pressuremeter test.


2013 ◽  
Vol 50 (7) ◽  
pp. 793-800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edgar Giovanny Diaz-Segura

The range of variation of the bearing capacity factor, Nγ, was assessed using 60 estimation methods for rough footings on sand subjected to static vertical loading. The influence on the Nγ values of the use of correlations for the estimation of the friction angle, [Formula: see text], derived from in situ tests was also assessed. The analysis shows a marked dependency on the methods used to determine Nγ, showing differences for the same [Formula: see text] values of up to 267% between estimated values. Uncertainty in the estimation of [Formula: see text], due to the use of correlations with in situ tests, leads to a range of variation for Nγ higher than that seen using the 60 estimation methods. Finally, given the regular use of the in situ standard penetration test (SPT) on sands, and based on a series of analyses using finite elements, a simplified method in terms of the SPT N-values is proposed for estimation of Nγ in footings on sands.


2016 ◽  
Vol 78 (8-6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rose Nadia ◽  
Rosli Saad ◽  
Nordiana Muztaza ◽  
Nur Azwin Ismail ◽  
Mohd Mokhtar Saidin

In this study, correlation is made between seismic P-wave velocities (Vp) with standard penetration test (SPT-N) values to produce soil parameter estimation for engineering site applications. A seismic refraction tomography (SRT) line of 69 m length was spread across two boreholes with 3 m geophones spacing. The acquired data were processed using Firstpix, SeisOpt2D and surfer8 software. The Vp at particular depths were pinpointed and correlated with geotechnical parameters (SPT-N values) from the borehole records. The correlation between Vp and SPT-N values has been established. For cohesive soils, it is grouped into three categories according to consistencies; stiff, very stiff and hard, having velocity rangesof 575-314 m/s, 808-1483 m/s and 1735-2974 m/s, respectively. For non-cohesive soils, it is also divided into three categories based on the denseness as loose, medium dense and dense with Vp ranges of 528-622 m/s, 900-2846 m/s and 2876-2951 m/s, respectively


2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (12) ◽  
pp. 1462-1473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Rezania ◽  
Akbar A. Javadi

In this paper, a new genetic programming (GP) approach for predicting settlement of shallow foundations is presented. The GP model is developed and verified using a large database of standard penetration test (SPT) based case histories that involve measured settlements of shallow foundations. The results of the developed GP model are compared with those of a number of commonly used traditional methods and artificial neural network (ANN) based models. It is shown that the GP model is able to learn, with a very high accuracy, the complex relationship between foundation settlement and its contributing factors, and render this knowledge in the form of a function. The attained function can be used to generalize the learning and apply it to predict settlement of foundations for new cases not used in the development of the model. The advantages of the proposed GP model over the conventional and ANN based models are highlighted.


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