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Guidelines ,0,
CONE
PENETRATION
TEST
Performance
and Design
FRICTION RATIO
PROFILE OF CONE DATA
NOTICE
This document is disseminated under the sponsorship
of the Department of Transportation in the interest
of information exchange. The United States Government
assumes no liability for its contents or use.
The contents of this report reflect the views of
Dr. John H. Schmertmann, who is responsible for
the facts and the accuracy of the data presented
herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the
official views or policy of the Department of Trans-
portation. This report does not constitute a standard,
or regulation.
The United States Government does not endorse products
or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers I names appear
herin only because they are considered essential to the
object of this document.
TECHNICAL REPORT STANDARD TITLE PAGE
1. Report No.
FHWA- T5-78- 209
'2. Government Accesaion No. 3. Recipient'l Catalog No.
?IJS()-/rJO? /.9
1
13. Type of Report and Period Covered
---------'11
4. Title and Subtitle
Guidelines for Cone Penetration Test
(Performance and Design)
7. Author! s)
John H. 5chmertmann
9. Performing Organi lotion Name and Addre..
226 N.W. 14th Place
Gainesville, Florida 32605
12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Addres'
U. 5. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration (HDV-22)
Washington, D.C. 20590
S. Report Date
July 1978
6. Performing Organi lotion Code
B. Performing Organi lotion Report No.
FHWA-T5-78-209
10. Unit No.
11. Contract or Grant No.
6-3-0054
Final Report
IS. Supplementary Notes
FHWA Contract Manager: Chien-Tan Chang (HDV-22)
16. Abstract
This manual presents procedures and guidelines applicable to the use of the
cone penetration test. Dr. 5chmertmann prepared this manual in February 1977
and made minor additions in May 1978. It represents his interpretation of the
state-of-the-art in Dutch static cone testing as of February 1977. Its contents
should provide assistance and uniformity to engineers concerned with the inter-
pretation of the data obtained from such testing. Only geotechnical engineers
familiar with the fundamentals of soil mechanics and foundation engineering
should use this manual.
The manual includes:.
1. Introduction and review of the general principals concerning cone
penetrometer testing.
2. Individual design chapters which address topics such as: pile design,
shear strength estimation, settlement calculation and compaction control.
3. Appendices which present previously published, pertinent information on
cone penetrometer testing.
17. K,y Wards
Cone Penetration, Foundation,
Dutch Cone, Soil Mechanics
lB. Distribution Statement
No restrictions
19. Security Clauif. lof this report)
Unclassified
l'=orm DOT F 1700.7 leoul
20. Security Classi/. lo'f thi s pagel
Unclassified
21. No: of Pages I 22. Price fttF
jA-CJ (
, .
;. '. "
NOTICE
THIS DOCUM,ENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED
FROM THE BEST COpy FURNISHED US BY'
THE SPONSORING A G E ~ C Y . ALTHOUGHIT
IS RECOGNIZED THAT CERTAIN PORTIONS
AR'E ILLEGIBLE, IT IS BEING RELEASED
IN THE INTEREST OF MAKING AVAILABLE
AS MUCH INFORMATION AS POSSIBLE.
PREFACE
The quasi-static Dutch cone penetration test has a development history
of over 40 years. Many engineers throughout the world have found this
test a useful and economical tool for site investigation and geo-
technical design. The modern advances of using trucks with up to 20
ton thrust capacity, and the inventions of the friction-cone and
electrical cone tips have made this test even more attractive techni-
cally without sacrifice of economy. Dr. Schmertmann re-introduced this
test into the USA in 1965. Since then its use and acceptance has spread
steadily, as has equipment availability and suppliers, and the ASTM now
has a tentative standard for this test.
This manual was prepared under contract with the Federal Highway
Administration by Dr. John Schmertmann, P r o f e s s o ~ of Civil Engineering
at the University of Florida, in conjunction with a 43 minute video
tape program on AN INTRODUCTION TO THE DUTCH CONE PENETRATION TEST.
The FHWA contract managers were Messrs. Larry Wolf and Chien-Tan Chang.
This manual presents procedures and guidelines applicable to the use
of the cone penetration test. Dr. Schmertmann prepared this manual in
February, 1977, and made minor additions in May, 1978. It represents
his interpretation of the state-of-the-art in Dutch static cone testing
as of February, 1977. Its contents should provide assistance and
uniformity to engineers concerned with the interpretation of the data
obtained from such. testing. Only geotechnical engineers familiar with
the fundamentals of soil mechanics and foundation engineering should
use this manual.
The manual includes:
1) Introduction and review of the general principals concerning
cone penetrometer testing.
2) Individual design chapters which address topics such as: pile
design, shear strength estimation, settlement calculation and
compaction control.
3) Appendices which present previously published, pertinent in-
formation on cone penetrometer testing.
While the supply lasts, copies of the manual can be obtained from:
Federal Highway Administration
Implementation Division (HDV-22)
Washington, D.C. 20590
Copies of the video tape are also available on a loan basis from
the same office and the FHWA Regional Offices.
1- b
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
1.10
loll
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
4.1
GUIDELINES FOR CPT PERFORMANCE AND DESIGN
Prepared for FHWA by Dr. John H. SCHMERTMANN
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
Purpose
Advantages and disadvantages
Sounding data to which Guidelines apply
Soils in which CPT useful
Associated soil sampling
References
Notation
Appendix I, factors affecting interpretation
of CPT data
Appendix II, ASTM CPT standard
Appendix III, 1975 CPT state-of-the-art
Appendix IV, examples of pile capacity calculations
2. SOIL EXPLORATION FOR PRELIMINARY DESIGN
End bearing, qc
Sleeve friction (f
s
) and friction ratio (Rf)
2.2.1 Local correlation needed
2.2.2 Mechanical tip calculation for Rf
2.2.3 Bearing on local friction sleeve
2.2.4 Sleeve surface roughness
2.2.5 Soil ductility controls Rf
2.2.6 Special pore pressure effects
Critical depth from surface or interface
Uniformity of soil conditions, stratigraphy
Position of the water table
Sand; estimating relative density
Clay; estimating sensitivity and overconsolidation
2.7.1 Sensitivity
2.7.2 Overconsolidation
Correlation with SPT
3. CPT FOR COMPACTION CONTROL
4. PILE DESIGN
Driven, displacement, straight-sided piles
4.1.1 End bearing
l-C
Page
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
3
3
3
3
3
4
4
4
6
6
8
8
8
8
9
9
10
13
15
15
15
18
22
24
24
24
4.1.2 Side friction 26
4.1.2.1 Sand, with friction-cone f
s
data 26
4.1.2.2 Sand, without f
s
data 28
4.1.2.3 Clay 28
4.1.3 Negative side friction 31
4.1.4 Tension piles 31
4.2 Corrections for shape of pile and method of pile insertion 31
4.3 Factors of safety 33
4.4 Lateral loading 33
4.5 Pile settlement 36
4.6 Group action 37
4.7 Data for wave equation analysis 37
5.1
5.2
5.3
Sand
5.1.1
5.1. 2
Clay
5.2.1
5.2.2
5.2.3
Mixed
5. ESTIMATING SHEAR STRENGTH
Bearing capacity
Estimating 1>'
Undrained strength, Su
Remolded undrained strength
Drained strength
soils
6. ESTIMATING SETTLEMENTS
38
38
38
38
42
42
44
44
47
49
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
Sand layers
Clay layers
6.2.1 Schmertmann method
6.2.2 Sanglerat method
Differential settlement
Rate of settlement
7. LIST OF REFERENCES
8. NOTATION AND ABBREVIATIONS
49
54
54
55
55
56
58
62
A P P E ~ D I X I
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
- FACTORS AFFECTING INTERPRETATION OF CPT DATA 65
Theories for CPT behavior 66
Effect of vertical effective stress at constant K' 66
Effects of varying radial effective stress at
constant vertical effective stress 68
Compressibility: density, cementation, large particles 68
Shape of the penetrometer tip 69
Method of penetration 70
Pore pressure effects 73
Layering and tip diameter effects 77
ii
APPENDIX II TEST OF ASTM D-3441-75T, STANDARD FOR CPT 80
APPENDIX III - CHAPTER 3. ON CONE PENETRATION TEST (CPT)
from Schmertmann (1975) SOA paper; includes
list of references 89
IV - EXAMPLES OF CALCULATIONS FOR PILE BEARING
FRICTION CAPACITIES USING NOTTINGHAM METHOD
(from Nottingham and Schmertmann (1975 120
iii
GUIDELINES FOR CPT AND DESIGN
Prepared for the by
Dr. John H. Schmertmann
February, 1977
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Purpose
This guidelines manual has the purpose of providing assistance
to engineers interpreting the quasi-static cone penetration test (CPT),
also known as the "Dutch cone test", datafor design purposes. This
purpose includes: a) Evaluation of site or route stratigraphy; the
types, layering, uniformity, continuity, permeability and strength of
various soils encountered, b) Control of the removal of poor soil
materials and the proper placement and compaction of stabilized soils,
c) Designing footing and pile foundations for both bearing capacity
and settlement criteria, and d) Designing slopes and fills.
This manual has the further objective of encouraging uniformity
within the engineering organizations concerning their inter-
pretation of such data. It also provides a focus for criticism,
research, and suggestions for improvements in the field hardware,
sounding techniques, and design interpretation of CPT data.
1.2 Advantages and Disadvantages
Relative to other soil engineering methods for exploring site
stratigraphy and obtaining data for preliminary design, the CPT has
the outstanding advantages of often providing better speed and economy,
more detailed and precise data, and data better suited to many ordinary
soil engineering design problems. It has the outstanding disadvantages
of not obtaining a soil sample for visual/lab inspection, and of a some-
times severely limited depth capability.
1.3 Sounding Data to Hhich Guidelines Apply
These guidelines apply only to the quasi-static method (2 em/sec
or less penetration rate) of performing a sounding. They apply primarily
to the 10 cm
2
penetrometer tips of either the Fugro-Cesco, Inc. (Dutch
engineering firm) electrical types, with a cylindrical shape with cone-
base diameter above the cone, or the Delft mechanical mantle or
Begemann friction-sleeve types. AS!}! D-344l-75T describes these tips in
detail -- see Appendix II.
1
1.4 Soils in vfuich CPT Useful
Generally, because of more limited alternatives, the CPT has
proven most useful in the coarser, more permeable, soils such as sand.
However, worldwide experience has shown that the CPT can also provide
useful data for design in nost of the types of soil wherein the equip-
ment can penetrate. As with any other soil engineering investigative
tool, the engineer must use appropriate judgement as to how to best
interpret CPT data from different soils for design purposes. The writer
hopes this manual will aid such judgement.
In relatively permeable soils, such as fine and coarser sands,
pore pressure effects during penetration at standard rates often have
a negligible influence and the CPT measures approximately fully drained
behavior. In homogeneous, plastic clays the CPT measures approximately
fully undrained behavior. Mixed soils produce in-between behavior.
The CPT cannot investigate all soils. Layers of very dense, and/or
cemented sand often require penetration forces that exceed the thrust
or reaction capability of the CPT equipment. As a rough guide to
penetration limit, 10 ton equipment can just penetrate a 5 ft layer of
Standard Penetration Test (SPT) N = 100 sand at a depth of 25 ft. Sig-
nificant amounts of gravel-sized particles can render CPT data very
erratic and difficult to interpret quantitatively. The presence of
cobbles can stop penetration and damage equipment. Rock usually stops
penetration, but some of the softer and/or weathered rocks permit
penetration and evaluation via the CPT.
1.5 Associated Soil Sampling
The CPT method does not provide soil samples for visual inspection.
However, the CPT data does permit an estimate of the soil types pene-
trated and provides accurate data for the subsequent precise locations
of critical soils that might require sampling. Various types of samplers
may be used with the various types of CPT rigs in use. Samplers that
advance via punching, as do the CPT cone tips, can be used directly
with the CPT hydraulic thrust machines and require no borehole. Other
CPT equipment involves using a special set of adapters on an otherwise
ordinary SPT drill rig. In this case the rig can easily reconvert to
boring and sampling. Although engineers with much CPT experience in a
local area sometimes conduct site investigations without actual sampling,
in general one must obtain appropriate samples for the proper inter-
pretation of CPT data. But, prior CPT data can greatly reduce sampling
requirements.
1.6 References
\{here appropriate, the text indicates references in parentheses by
author and year. In Section 7, and at the end of Appendix III the reader
will find lists of references alphabetically by author and date of publi-
cation.
2
1.7 Notation
Section 8 lists, in alphabetical order, the various notations
used herein. Usually a notation will be defined where first used.
1.8 Appendix I, Factors Affecting Interpretation of CPT Data
Any "Guidelines" for interpreting CPT data must include some
discussion of the important variables that influence such data.
Appendix I presents such a discussion. Note that six appendix figures
follow the text.
1.9 Appendix II, ASTM CPT Standard
a new tentative standard, D-344l-75T, for the perfor-
Appendix II to these Guidelines include this
Engineers are encouraged to use D-344l-75T.
The ASTH has
mance of the CPT.
Tentative Standard.
1.10 Appendix III, 1975 CPT State-of-the-Art
The writer previously prepared a state-of-the-art paper on insitu
testing for shear strength, which included a chapter on the CPT. For
easy reference, these Guidelines include this chapter and its associated
figures and references, as Appendix III.
1.11 Appendix IV, Examples of Pile Capacity Calculations
In Appendix III the writer presented the essence of Nottingham's
research results and recommended methods for computing ultimate pile
bearing. Section 4 herein includes recommendations to use these methods.
This Appendix presents examples of hypothetical and actual situations
and ultimate pile bearing and friction computations using the Nottingham
methods.
3
2. SOIL EXPLORATION FOR
DESIGN
2.1 End Bearing, qc
The soil in the immediate vicinity of a passing penetrometer tip
experiences a complicated sequence of changes in stress and strain.
No one has yet solved this problem theoretically. Some recent attempts
show promise (see Durgunoglu and }!itchell, 1975, and Baligh and Scott,
1975). However, as described in Appendix I, we do know about some of
the variables that influence CPT data and this helps interpret CPT logs.
As a guide, Figure 1 illustrates a simplified form of different
qc-profiles and suggests possible interpretations. In general, as
illustrated by parts (a) and (b), clays have considerably lower qc than
sands, due to lower ' and pore pressure effects. that some over-
lap exists between loose sands and highly over consolidated clays.
Part (c) shows that a normally consolidated sand would increase
in qc with depth while an overconsolidated sand might have an approxi-
mately constant qc with depth from additional qc due to additional
lateral stress from the overconsolidation. The overconsolidated state
might be confused with a normally consolidated state for the case when
density decreases with depth. This illustrates a fundamental uncertainty
when interpreting qc-profiles -- increased stress and increased density
produce similar qc effects. Part (d) suggests different possible
interpretations for, among other things, an unusually high qc layer over
a much weaker layer.
As further illustrated in parts (a) and (b), the passage of the
penetrometer tip probably does not produce a smooth, continuous failure
phenomena. More likely, penetration produces a succession of failures
which involve a slip, a recovery of cone bearing strength and/or
pushrod friction with simultaneous pushrod advance, another slip, etc.
Perhaps in clays this succession occurs so rapidly that the qc profile
appears relatively smooth. However, in sands, and particularly dense
sands, a pattern may also result from layering and variations in sand
densities and perhaps lateral stresses inherent in the variable,
intermittent deposition of sand deposits. Such zig-zag effects will
be more pronounced with continuous recording when using Fugro tips than
with the incremental operation of the mechanical tips. As explained in
1.7 and 1.8 of Appendix I, it will also be more pronounced the smaller
the diameter of the tip and the greater the pore pressure effects.
2.2 Sleeve Friction (f
s
) and Friction Ratio (Rf)
As first introduced by Begemann (1953, 1965), the measurement of
local friction by a special sleeve in the penetrometer tip has greatly
4
1 .. . ; p I I ~ - - surface sand layer
clay 'crust'
NC clay
~ ~ ~ ~ ; . sand layer
or pocket
,
,
,
sand
. . . - : : : : : = ~
depth depth
dense sand layer?
cemented sand?
arching stresses in
sand spanning cavity?
dense sand?
soft rock?
surface sand, med-dense ?
loose but DC?
,
,
very loose sand?
under consol. clay?
cavity fill?
\
,
\-----..-
~ - - - - - - - - - - ... qc
depth
FIGURE 1 - SIMPLIFIED EXAMPLES OF qcLOG PROFILES
SHOWING LIKELY AND POSSIBLE INTERPRETATIONS
FOR SOIL TYPES AND CONDITIONS
5
increased the value of CPT data. Besides providing friction data of
superior value in the design of friction against piles, the dimension-
less ratio of sleeve friction to bearing often, after local correlation,
provides a means to help identify the soil types penetrated.
Figure 2 represents one correlation between soil type and CPT
data, based on using the Begemann mechanical tip in Florida. A recent
case history site investigation using the CPT (Alperstein and Leifer,
1976) showed fair agreement with Figure 2. Friction ratios will likely
reduce when using the Fugro tip in sands -- from about 1 1/4% typical
for the Begemann mechanical tip to about 1/2%. Four to seven percent
represents a typical Rf in insensitive clays for both tips and present
evidence is ambiguous as to which produces lower Rf'S. Hhen using
Figure 2, or similar types of correlations, observe certain precautions
as follows:
2.2.1 Local Correlation Needed: Correlations may well be
significantly different in different geologic areas. For
example, structural sensitivity reduces friction ratios.
In the case of quick clays the writer has measured Rf as low
as 0.1% using a Fugro tip.
2.2.2 Mechanical Tip Calculation for Rf: ~ ~ ' h e n using the
Begemann friction-cone tip, the operator takes a succession
of two gage readings at each test depth -- the point only
thrust, G, followed by the thrust to move both the point
and friction sleeve, G + ~ G . Assuming no change in G during
the additonal 1 to 4 cm penetration to obtain G + 6G, sub-
traction gives the 6G to overcome sleeve-soil friction. But,
when comparing qc with local friction for an Rf determination
of soil at a specified depth, proper account must be taken
of the elevation difference between the base of the cone,
elevation "n", and the midheight of the sleeve, elevation
"n-l". Hhen using the Begemann tip, \\Tith its approximate
20 cm elevation difference between nand n-l and also the
usual 20 cm depth test interval, one must compare the current
additional thrust to move the friction sleeve (see Appendix II,
Figure 5), 6G
n
, with the previous (20 cm higher) point-only
thrust gage reading, Gn-l' to obtain the Rf at elevation n-l.
Equation 1 presents the formula for Rf(n-l) when using the
Begemann tip with its 150 cm
2
friction sleeve, and when using
the Goudsche Machinefabriek CPT load cell that has Bourdon
gages that register one half the pressure on the cone tip,
or 1/2 qc'
6G
n
R
f
(%)
Cn-I)
6
6.6
GCn-I)
(Eq. 1)
- -
NOTES:
-
l. Expect Some Over lap in the Type of
Zones Noted Below. Local Correla-
tions ore Preferable.
-
2. Developed from Work of Begemann
(965) and Based on Correlation in
North Centrol florida.
en
:.::
u
Dense or
V
0
SILT-SAND
0:::.
Cemented
MIXTURES LLJ
~
~ -
I
--- ----
CLAYEY ~ SANDS J /'
..J
-en
0
AND SILTS /
SANDY AND SILTY V z
_4
en
SAND
/
CLAYS h
-1
..J
INSENSITIVE
_LLJ
/ NON-FISSUREO-
en
INORGANIC
>-
~ CLAY 0:::
LLJ
.... Very Stif'f
>
-
1-0----
I
V ........
Loose ................ ",-
I
I
I-.... ~
Stiff ./ ........
~ . . . . V
........
........ ~ .
,
/
-.... ./
.... ~ -
1-_-
Medium
.' -
I ORGAN!C
I
---
.L. CLAYS 8 MI XED -
--.
_ SOILS
Soft
I ---
--
Friction Rotio Values Decrease in
----1
Accuracy with Low Values of Qc and
------
When Within 0 Few Feet of the Surface Very Soft
I I I
2
o 1 234 567
FRICTION RATIO. (SLEEVE FRICTION/CONE BEARING), 0/0
1000
8
6
E
4
U
.......
CJ'I
~
0::
2
0
Li-
en
.-
z
100
>-
8
J-
6
-
U

a..

4
U
l!)
Z
-
0::
2

w
CD
W
z
10
0
U
8
:J:
U 6
.-
:::>
c
4
GUIDE FOR ESTiMATING SOIL TYPE FROM DUTCH
FRICTION-CONE RATIO (BEGEMANN MECHANICAL TIP)
(AFTER SCHMERTMANN, 1969) - unpublished
FIGURE 2
7
2.2.3 Bearing on Local Friction Sleeve: Soil bearing
on the bottom bevel of the mechanical friction sleeve may
account for a significant portion of the apparent total
sleeve friction force. For example, Begemann suggests 50%
in sands. Some comparative tests in Florida sands indicated
about 65% due to bevel bearing. Thus, the actual sand-steel
friction, fs' or friction ratio, Rf, in sands equals only
about 1/2 to 1/3 that measured using the Begemann tip. This
bevel bearing error seems much less significant in clays;
therefore tentatively neglect it in clays.
2.2.4 Sleeve Surface Roughness: The nature of the surface
on the steel friction sleeve plays a major part in determining
the magnitude of f
s
' The ASTM D-344l Standard in Appendix II
includes requirements for material and roughness. The engineer
should replace sleeves that have worn noticeably smoother or
rougher than specified.
2.2.5 Soil Ductility Controls Rf: Some recent research by
Al-Awkati (1975) indicates that a soil's ductility (say
expressed by its strength/modulus ratio) represents the most
,important property controlling Rf. Clays have a relatively
high Rf because of their relatively high ductility. Sands
have a relatively low Rf because of their relatively low
ductility. However, be alert for special cases. For
example, the Piedmont micaceous, residual silts have a very
high Rf because of their high ductility resulting from the
modulus-reduction effects of the mica. Shelly sands have a
very low Rf because of their low ductility resulting from the
brittle-breakage of the shell fragments.
2.2.6 Special Pore Pressure Effects: Special pore pressure
effects can also change R
f
. For example, the writer has noted
. very high Rf values in loose, silty sands when using the Bege-
mann friction cone tip. This probably results from partial
liquefaction during the qc measurement, followed by rapid pore
pressure dissipation. By the time the friction sleeve tests
for f
s
during the next 20-cm increment, the shear strength
of the sand has increased substantially, thus producing a
too-high Rf. Note that the electric tip of the Fugro type,
with its continuous penetration and the friction sleeve
immediately above the base of the cone, cannot cause such a
distortion of R
f
.
8
2.3 Critical Depth from Surface or Interface
The concept of a critical depth in a qc profile has been advanced
by several engineers, including Kerisel, DeBeer and Schultze. It
involves the idea that as a penetrometer tip advances downward from
the surface, or through a weak to strong layer interface, qc at first
increases rapidly until the point is deep enough to no longer sense
the interface above it. Then the tip achieves the "deep foundation"
state wherein qc supposedly becomes approximately constant with further
depth penetration. The relative depth, in diameters, to reach this
constant condition increases with increasing '. However, discussions
at the 1974 Stockholm ESOPT showed this concept is controversial.
The initial, rapid increase in qc from a surface or interface is
well known. However, the elastic-plastic slip field used to explain
theoretically this behavior is in dispute because some engineers claim
it ignores the dominant effect of soil compressibility on penetration
behavior. This dispute continues over whether or not qc then becomes
constant with increasing depth of penetration in a uniform soil. All
lab chamber tests produce data of the type illustrated in Figure 1.1,
indicating qc continues to increase with greater but at a progres-
sively reduced rate due to grain crushing. Some engineers have also
challenged the quality of the research data used to support the critical
depth concept. Others point out that other explanations not previously
considered, such as illustrated in Figure l(c) and discussed in 2.1,
might explain a profile showing constant qc below a certain depth.
Engineers should recognize that a cone penetrometer requires a
penetration of about 8d to no longer sense an overhead interface -- as
discussed in 1.8 and subsequently when estimating pile tip bearing
capacity. After this penetration, expect qc to continue to increase
with increased if all other variables are held constant, although
at a decreasing rate. Keep in mind the alternate explanations for the
shapes of various qc profiles.
The available evidence, admittedly sparse, suggests that f
s
also
increases from the surface, or other interface, in a manner similar to
qc. Tentatively assume that in the same soil the Rf remains constant
as the cone penetrometer, or a pile, penetrates from an interface to a
depth where it no longer senses this interface.
2.4 Uniformity of Soil Conditions, Stratigraphy
Because of the speed of making a sounding and the detail provided
in the qc and R
f
logs, the CPT is an especially valuable tool to investi-
gate the uniformity of soil conditions under a structural area or
between widely spaced preliminary borings. Figure 3, from Begemann
(1963), this for one site in Holland.
9
Figure 4 illustrates the use of the CPT to more accurately define
a local condition -- in this case the size of the soil-limestone inter-
face cavity found from 9 to 11 m at S-3. After sounding S-3 located a
cavity the additional four adjacent soundings quickly showed the
limited size and slot-shape of the cavity and the probable ease with
which the overlying sands could arch across.
2.5 Position of the Water Table
There seems to be no convincing evidence to indicate that the
position of the water table can be determined consistently by noting
significant changes in the qc profile at the level of the water table.
Theoretically, the capillarity and the resulting negative pore
pressure above the water table should stop when passing thru the water
table,perhaps producing a discontinuity in the rate of increase of
vertical effective stress at the water table. From I.2 in Appendix I
there should be a similar discontinuity in the qc profile. However,
in practical circumstances other partial saturation effects and the
natural variations in cone bearing seem to often mask this discontinuity
in the qc profile.
In some soils, particularly those older and relatively free
draining, a higher-qc layer forms around present or past groundwater
levels. The ordinary fluctuations aro'und some average level produce
many cycles of \vetting and drying, which may produce chemical pre-
cipitation, which produces cementation between grains, which produces
a distinctly higher-qc layer. One can sometimes use this phenomenon to
explain some high-qc layers.
In clays, past or present groundwater levels are usually associ-
ated with overconsolidation above groundwater level from drying and the
resulting capillary stresses, forming a "drying crust." One can some-
times identify probably drying crusts from qc profiles (as in Figure
I (a)) and use such to either help locate past or present groundwater
levels or help explain the profile.
Some engineering firms, such as Fugro, also sometimes use cone
penetrometer tips that incorporate a piezometer. If pore pressure
determinations during penetration, or at equilibrium with no penetration,
and/or knowing the position of the water table are important, then use
this type of piezometer cone tip. In cases where the hole made by an
ordinary penetrometer tip remains open after withdrawing the penetro-
meter, then lowering an electric water level probe into this hole
provides a convenient means for determining the highest piezometric
water level along this hole. Determine the level of the water in the
penetrometer hole immediately after completing the sounding and at
convenient time intervals thereafter until reaching equilibrium.
10
In the first place one can determine quickly the trend of the
layers in the vertical and horizontal directions.
Cone resistance in Ib/sq in
4
500 1000 o 1000
3
500 o
2
1000 500
1
o
5 0 L : : : : ~ = d
Fig.4
This will be clear from the following simple ex-
ample (see Fig. 4), In this case, a light building could be found-
ed on the upper sand layer, although it will be immediately
clear that more settlement will take place at sounding 4 than
at sounding lowing to the greater thickness of the soft layers.
For heavier buildings, a pile foundation will be necessary for
which the second layer is nevertheless not suitable because of
its small thickness at position 4 and its rather poor quality at 2
and 3. The piles should be placed in the third sand layer.
FIGURE 3 - EXAMPLE (from Begemann, 1963) SHOWING THE USE
OF CPT qc PROFILES TO DISCOVER THE VARIATION IN
THICKNESS AND QUALITY OF POTENTIAL PILE BEARING
LAYERS ACROSS A SITE
11
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N
2.6 Sand; Estimating Relative Density
Static cone bearing capacity provides an indicator of the relative
density of sands. Unfortunately, grain size distribution, cementing,
lateral stresses, and depth of overburden also significantly affect qc,
as well as the previously mentioned compressibility, tip shape, pore
pressure and thin-layer effects. Previous investigations of the qc-Dr
correlation have shown considerable differences, as illustrated by
Mitchell & Gardner (1975, Fig. 30).
A recent series of about 80 correlation tests in the 4 ft diameter
University of Florida triaxial, Ka calibration chamber had the aim of
establishing a better qc-Dr correlation. We evaluated these tests in
addition to those discussed on pp. 83-85 of Appendix III. Figure 5
presents our latest correlation, applicable to saturated, NC sands.
The sands tested include 2 artificial fine sands with opposite-extreme
crushabilities, 2 natural fine sands -- one with appreciable mica,
and 1 natural and one arti ficial medium sand, with all sands with
uniformity coefficients between 1.8 and 2.2, and a maximum of 9%
passing the 200 sieve. We tested dry over a Dr range of about 50-100%
for the medium sands and both dry and saturated over 20-80% for the fine
sands, and used both the mechanical and electrical tips. We also used
constant-stress and constant-volume chamber boundary conditions and
assumed the field case, Figure 5, one-third from the constant-stress
towards constant-volume case.
The use of CPT data, from quartz sands clean enough to be suitable
for relative density evaluation, will produce a Figure 5 estimate of
Dr with a std. deviation of about 10%.
For the case of overconsolidated (OC) sands, Figure ~ predicts
relative densities that are too high. Use Figure 1-2 as a basis for
correcting for horizontal effective stresses greater than for the NC
case. Considering that in situ horizontal stresses are rarely, and
perhaps never, known accurately, an approximate procedure for accounting
for lateral stress effects may prove adequate. Estimate the effects of
OC by using Figure 1-2. Equation (2) expresses a formula, also plotted
in Figure 1-2, to give an equivalent NC qc, qcNC' if one knows the ratio
K6/K6NC' You can estimate this ratio from the OCR by using Equation (3).
Equations (2) and (3) are empirical. The available data suggest they
will also work in clays.
K'
'" 1 + 3/4 ( K ~ O C - 1)
o ~ C
(Eq. 2)
K ~ O C 0 42
'" (OCR) .
K ~ N C
13
(Eq. 3)
Fugro static cone bearing, qc in kgf/cm
2
o 100 200 300 400 500
Or-------,.----"""'T'""-----r-----r-------,
2.5
*see equations (2), (3) and Fig. '2 to
assist with correcting for effects of OC
FOR NORMALLY CONSOLIDATED*
SATURATED
RECENT,UNCEMENTED
FINE SP SANDS
1.5
I
I
0.5 I
\
\
\
1.0
","
'" I1l
t;
I1l
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. ~
u
I1l
:::
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N
E
u
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.:.:
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C
3.0 I.L......IL-...i-..J.-.........,,-.J._-L.._....... ................ .L- ........
FIGURE 5 - UPDATED qcDr CORRELATION (solid)
Previous correlation (dashed)
14
2.7 Clay; Estimating Sensitivity and Overconsolidation
2.7.1 Sensitivity: The sensitivity of a clay, defined as:
max. undrained shear strength of undisturbed clay
max. undrained shear strength of same clay after
repeated applications of high shear strains
(remolded)
s
uu
s
ur
(Eq. 4)
represents one neasure of the "remoldability" of a clay's
structure. Unfortunately, the magnitude of sensitivity,St,
depends on the test methods used to obtain the undrained
strengths. (See 5.2.1 for a more detailed discussion of un-
drained strengths.) We know that in the same type clay, the
greater St the lower R
f
. However, any accurate equation
relating St to Rf should account for the stress-strain be-
havior of the undrained clay and the type penetrometer used.
We do not know enough to do this at present. Equation (5)
does provide a rough method for the St of a clay,
as obtained from a Geonor or Nillcon-type field vane, based
on Rf from the Begemann tip.
S
t
field
vane
./
(Eq: 5)
2.7.2 Overconsolidation: An engineer can also use the GPT
to estimate the extent of overconsolidation of a clay. We
know from theory and experience that the undrained strength
of a normally consolidated clay falls within a limited frac-
tion of the effective overburden pressure on that clay. This
fraction appears to vary primarily with the plasticity (PI)
of the clay -- the higher the PI the higher the fraction.
However, the geologic environment of (for example,
salt versus fresh water) and postdepositional changes (as with
quick clays) have an influence. Secondary creep, or delayed
compression, increases this fraction. this
fraction usually falls between 0.16 and 0.4, and rarely
exceeds 0.6, based largely on field vane tests and K
o
triaxial
compression tests. Thus, if we find a clay's undrained
15
strength exceeds 0.6, or even 0.5, times its effective over-
burden pressure, we can say this clay is likely overconsoli-
dated. From Ladd & Foott (1974) and Koutsoftas and Fischer
(1976, p. 996) we now have sufficient data to make an estimate
of the overconsolidation ratio of a clay based on its current
su/p' ratio.
Figure 6 presents a correlation showing the ratio of undrained
strength to undrained strength normally consolidated as a fuction of
the overconsolidation ratio (OCR). Accepting an average normally
consolidated su/ p ' of 0.33 as applicable to most post-pleistocene
clays, and using the approximate numbers discussed in 5.2.1 to estinate
undrained strength from qc' we can determine the ordinate in Figure 6
and use the curve to estimate OCR. Of course, this would not apply
exactly to all clays. For example, it would overestimate OCR for
fresh water, montmorillonite clays and underestimate OCR for quick
clays. Nevertheless, an estimate of OCR can be very useful to estimate
compressibility and make preliminary settlement predictions (see 6.2.1)
and by Eq. (3) to estimate in situ lateral stresses resultl.ng from
overconsolidation.
The reader should recognize that the above method to estimate OCR
can lead to large error. The determination of Su depends on the method
used. For example, unconfined tests on undisturbed samples often pro-
duce different Su than field vane tests. Even different types of field
vanes can produce significantly different suv' One can also err signi-
ficantly when estimating p' because of uncertainties in unit weights
and in situ water pressures. For example, assume su/p' = 0.66 is
"correct." A error in Su due to poor vane test technique or
unconfined test sample disturbance, combined with a +25% error in
estimating p', would produce su/p' = 0.33. Because 0.33 represents a
good average for the NC case, the engineer would likely judge this clay
as NC, while, from Figure 6, with accurate data he would estimate an
OCR = 2.3. Further, if this clay had an actual, but NC su/p'
ratio = 0.22, the estimated OCR would increase to 4.0.
Consider the following as an alternate method for estimating the
OCR in clay layers sufficiently thick and homogeneous: sometimes the
qc-depth profile in a single clay layer, or a succession of seemingly
similar clay layers, will define an apparent linear increase in qc
with depth -- as shown in Figure 7. Extrapolating this qc-depth line
to qc = 0 defines an intersection point "0'" which can be taken as
the highest probable past ground surface -- suggesting past erosion
of "d" depth of soil and overconsolidation due to this D. However,
this assumes "origin cohesion," Co = 0, and therefore an "origin qc,"
qco = O. The available data indicate Co for many clays = about 0.05
16

7 8 9 10 6 5 4 3 2 1.5
Range of data from 7 NC and OC clays,
with recommended average
5
2
4
3
....... ........--&..-............---'
1
OCR =Overconsolidation Ratio =max. past a;
present (0; = p')
FIGURE 6 - NORMALIZED (su!p') RATIO VS. OCR FOR USE IN
ESTIMATING OCR FROM qc IN CLAYS
17
to 0.10 kg/cm
2
, thus producing a maximum qco for about 1.0 kg/cm
2
.
Obtaining the qc-depth extrapolated line intercept with qc = 1.0 kg/cm
2
,.,ould produce a more conservative value for "d", as shown in Figure 7,
and is recommended. D = 0 suggests normal consolidation and a negative
D underconsolidation. Note that because of the usually small closure
angle, a, this method is sensitive to different clay layers erroneously
assumed homogeneous, to layers too thin or too qc-erratic for accurate
extrapolation, and to poor penetrometer load cell calibration for the
qc = 0 line.
2.8 Correlation with SPT
The extensive use of the standard penetration test (SPT) in the
United States makes it of interest to attempt correlation between the
SPT blow count values (N-values) and qc in kg/cm
2
or tons/ft
2
. Sanglerat
(1972, section 9.5) discusses these correlations in some detail.
Schmertmann (1971, 1974 c) presented a theoretical correlation between
the SPT and cone sounding data. Among other things, this work showed
that in most soils should correlate better with f
s
than with qc'
Sanglerat (1971, 1972-9.5) discusses Schmertmann and notes that the
ratio should decrease with increasing cohesiveness of the soils
tested. Meyerhof (1956) suggested that qc/N equals approximately 4 in
sands. The more detailed correlation presented by Schmertmann (1970),
presented here as Figure 8, showed that a value of 4 was a reasonable
average but that the scatter was very great. Table 1 presents
ly suggested, purely empirical, approximate values of the qc/N ratio for
different soil types. Use Table 1 with appropriate caution.
Some recent (Schmertmann, 1976) research at the University of
Florida, involving the stress wave dynamics of the SPT and expended-
energy matches with parallel CPTs, has demonstrated that the qc/N ratio
varies with incident rod energy in the SPT, with Rf, and with the mag-
nitude of qc' Figure 9 presents a semi-theoretical correlation between
these variables for the 50% level of incident energy (140 lb x 30 in x
-- an approximate average level attained by typical, cathead and rope
type, US SPT rigs. The use of Figure 9 requires a knowledge of Rf as
obtained from a Begemann type tip. If one has only SPT data available,
then the ratios of in/
N
12-l8 in) and/or (N
6
-
1
2 in/
N
12-l8 in) can
provide a measure of Rf. The insert Table 2 below Figure 9 lists the
theoretical values of these ratios for various Rf, based on Schmertmann
(1971) but modified for SPT samplers designed for liners and used with-
out them.
18
a. Dessicated "clay crust"
layer, ignore (can also
occur below GWT)
b. Homogeneous clay layer
interrupted by:
c. Silt or sand lenses, ignore
d. Sand layer, bottom of clay
surface
D = estimate of removed overburden
depth causing overconsol idation
c
v
extrapolated past surface if c =0 and q =0
o Co
0'
..
\ qc (if Co *0)
o
----- ----
\MAX.=1.0 Kg/an
2
\, __0:
,
\
.....iI:::, ...':..... -.:.... .. ::.'''' ..:.. '''''. qc
, V GWT
-
b
.c
...
CL
Ql
't:l
c
Note: If log b' obtained here, then signal that
this layer not same clay as b above.
d
FIGURE 7 - EXTRAPOLATION OF THE qcPROFILE AS AN
ALTERNATE METHOD TO ESTIMATE
OVERCONSOLIDATION IN THICK, HOMOGENEOUS
CLAY LAYERS
19
PLOTTED BELOW ARE FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS
SHOWING THE EFFECT OF DEPTH
20 ,.-----... :.'... :. ""--D-EP-T-H-R-A-N-G-E-0--1-0--"
16 122 CASES
12
8
4
00L.
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8.5
MEAN qc'N = 4.11
FOR DEPTHS GREATER THAN 20'
MEAN qc/N = 4.52
MEAN qc'N =4.23
MEAN qc/N = 4.07
ALL DEPTHS
300 CASES
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8.5
RATIO (q IN)
WITH qc IN kg/cm
2
APPROX. t/ft
2
)
::'.:':' :. :.... -: .:-: .:",..:;.: :
::: ::;.:.:'"
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EFFECT OF MAGNITUDE OF SPT NVALUE
RANGE
lEAST CORREl.
SQUARES LINE COEFF.
0<N<10 qc = 4.88 N 0.43
0<N<:30 qc
= 4.13 N
0.72
ALL N
qc = 18.3 + 2.9 N
0.80
2
DISTRIBUTION .. '
4 OF MEAN q/N H': :::
FROM 14 SITES :.::. :;.:':

01234567
MEAN qc/N OF MEANS = 4.44
6,.--------------,
FIGURE 8 - DATA FOR CORRELATING NAND qc IN SILTV TO MEDIUM SANDS
(Comparison holes 310 ft. apart; all qc by University of Florida; N by 7 firms
at 14 sites, 13 of which in Florida; all N are uncorr-ected.)
(from Schmertmann, 1970)
, TABLE 1 - Typical qc (kg/cm
2
)/N(SPT blows/ftl Ratios
Fugro tip Delft mechanical tips
sand & gravel mixtures
sand
sandy silts
clay-silt-sand mixtures
insensitive clays
8
5
4
2
6
4
3
2
1Y.
sensitive clays ratios can get very high because N 0
20
100
For case of 50%* of
maximum hammer energy
(4200 in-Ib) entering
SPT sampler rods
80
'" C1l
..r::.
u
c:
00
...
d:J
60
..:
...
C1l
c:
C1l
Co
Z
...
c:
::J
40 0
u
~
0
::0
I-
a..
Cf)
20
200 /100 1 ~
qc from Begemann mech. friction-cone (kgf/cm
2
)
OL--------L-----...J-.-----......... - - - ~
o
FIGURE 9 - EXPERIMENTAL-THEORETICAL RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN qc AND N, USING LINER SPT SAMPLER
WITHOUT LINERS AND DELFT MECHANICAL CONE
*(current data indicates 50% approx. US ave.)
(from Schmertmann, 1976)
TABLE 2 - Method for estimating R
f
from 6" incremental SPT data using same
equipment as in Fig. 9 (from Schmertmann, 1976)
'h
1
2
4
6
8
0.85
0.76
0.65
0.53
0.46
0.425
0.93
0.88
0.83
0.77
0.73
0.71
21
3. C ~ T FOR COMPACTION CONTROL
Because of the relatively large cone diameter, the CPT is not
especially suitable to check the compaction of the surface 12 inches
(30 em) of compacted soil done from either the surface or built up in
layers. One cannot easily check the compaction of a single, surface
6 to 9 inch lift with the CPT. However, engineers have found qc
quite suitable for checking deeper compaction. Within the top 12 inches
the magnitude of the qc-depth gradient provides a more suitable measure
of compaction. Alternatively, the value of qc at a specified depth
from the surface, say 6 or 12 inches might prove useful. Figure 10
presents a page of examples using the CPT to check the compaction of
sands using heavy vibratory rollers from the surface and the vibroflota-
tion process. One must have local experience and obtain local correlation
with dry density, relative density, % compaction, CBR, etc. before
deciding on combinations of acceptable depth-qc compaction standards.
As explained in section 1.3 of Appendix I, and noted in section
2.6, qc increases not only with the increased density resulting from
conpaction but also from the increased lateral stresses fron the over-
consolidation produced by the compacting rollers. These stresses may
later diminish, for example due to adjacent excavation. To obtain
the relationship between qc and density you must correlate locally,
using the same or similar compaction equipment, to eliminate that portion
of the qc increase due to increased stresses.
The writer has had only one opportunity to check the possible
relationship between qc and the CBR in a vibratory-raIler-compacted
fine sand in Florida. In this case he found that CBR = qc (tsf at
6 inch depth)/3.
The CPT has also proven especially useful for checking the adequacy
and completeness of excavating undesirable materials and replacing with
suitable materials. For example, peat layers left inadvertently beneath
a sand fill may be easily located. The CPT has also proven useful to
check the general adequacy and uniformity of a placed fill.
CPT soundings can also be used to locate undesirable obstructions
such as boulders, old footings, old piling, etc.
Section 3.35, pp. 97-99 in Appendix III, also discusses the use of
the CPT for testing soil compaction and presents another example.
22
'-;I
-3 F.,
ITl-el ..... \
\


..... ...,
..................
Grwy lin_SAND
=\-3F...
.." ....-....
,;<:hIfVF
<...........
Bl'fol'llVF '\
,
)
<;>
Llglnbr_n
" .. UND BafOI'll
V,
Fig. 3. - Example of in situ test
results obtained during precon-
struction and compaction control
testing of aeolian sands-
factory site
Fig. 4. - Example of in situ test
results obtained during precon
struction and compaction control
testing of dune sand-oil tank
site
Fig. 2. - Example of in situ test
results obtained during precon-
struction and compaction control
testing of clayey alluvial sands-
sugar silo site
1000
500
Ref:
D.L. Webb and R.1. Hall "Effects of
vibroflotation on clayey sands"
ASCE Journal SM&FD Nov. 69, pp.
13651378
J.H. Schmertmann Discussion of: "Sand
densification by heavy vibratory compactor"
ASCE Journal SM&FD Jan. 70, pp. 363365
Fine Sand 111
PI =5
Sand silty Sand (2)
PI =10
Fine clevev Sand (31
PI = 14
Figures in breckets refer
to greding curves in Fig. 1
2000
(ju "
fl 1500 "
<: ,

<Il
<:
8
""
.5 2500
li'
..
<Il
Q.
:e
7
0L...-_..I--_...L..._--L-_--L_---l__.L...-..........
o 2 3 4 5 6
Figure Nos. from above refs.
Distance A from center of single vibroflot. Feet
Fig. 5. - Variation of cone resistance with distance from center of
compaction-clayey alluvial sands-sugar silo site
Fig. 10- Static cone penetrometer definition of effect of surface
roller compaction in fine sand above water table
Standard Dutch Cone Bearing Capacitv, in t/ft
2
W 100
After 12 coverages of VP10

tion(::{(p_20 Coverages
"..
iO .
<: ...

0-..
fl
o '"
a:;'t
.0 iil
.J:."tl
0.:6
..
Note: About 2 ft. surface
sand edded" iluring
compaetion
After
.. ".,..30Coverages

I
Depth of Improvement = 7.21t.
Dutch Friction - Cone Capacity, in t/ft
2
40 80 120 160
00
..
2
...
.5
<Il
3
U
co
't
4
"
..
"tl
5
<:
III
iO
6
<:
7
6
8
0
:8
9
.J:.
a.
10
<Il
C
11
12
13L.--"---.L--.l....w04-......_ ......._ ......._.....&..._....
Fig. 11. - Static cone penetrometer definition of effect of roller
compaction in fine sand and silty sand below water table
FIGURE 10 - EXAMPLES OF USING THE STATIC CONE PENETRATION
TEST TO MEASURE THE EFFECTS OF VIBROFLOTATION
AND VIBRATORY ROLLER COMPACTION IN SAND
23
4. PILE DESIGN
The modern CPT to which these Guidelines apply evolved from the
work in the Netherlands that began over 40 years ago. The Dutch develop-
ed the CPT primarily as a model pile for the efficient positioning of
piles in sand layers below thick compressible deposits and to more accu--
rate1y estimate their static capacity when bearing in these sands.
4.1 Driven, Displacement, Straight-sided Piles
4.1.1 End Bearing: Figure 11 details the basis for the
computation of ultimate pile end bearing resistance using
Fugro-type tip penetrometer data. The procedure remains the
same for the pile tip embedded in either sand, clay or mixed
soils. The zone of pile tip support includes 0.7 to 4d
below the tip and 8d above the tip. For all soils the engineer
searches over this 0.7 to 4d range for the lowest below-tip
contribution to end bearing, using the method in Figure 11.
However, if a much weaker layer exists between 4d and lad,
and seems significant, then use appropriate judgement to
reduce qp accordingly. If the continuous qc profile above
pile tip shows a relatively few, abrupt "x" reductions and
recoveries of qc below the "envelope of minimum values,"
ignore them in all steps of the computation. Appendix IV
has examples of the Fig. 11 method.
Because of possible uncertain size effects, differences
in the settlement-rate of Q
p
and Q
s
mobilization, negative pore
pressure during CPT penetration of very dense fine and silty
sands, grain crushing and high pressure creep effects, it
has been customary in Holland to employ both a qc and a qp
cutoff level. ~ ~ e n computing pile qp using the method outlined
above and in Figure 11, all qc above the cutoff magnitude are
reduced to the cutoff magnitude. The Dutch engineers often
use a cutoff of 300 kg/cm
2
, and a maximum ultimate qp of 150
kg/cm
2
in sands and 100 kg/cm
2
in very silty sands.
Because the problem does not often arise, engineers know
relatively little about the allowable end bearing in clays.
The research by Nottingham (1975), summarized by Nottingham
and Schmertmann (1975), and even further digested in section
3.24 of Appendix III, suggests the Dutch end bearing calcula-
tion method will also work well in NC or lightly DC clays with
24
q
C
1
+
q
C
2
C
;
p
=
2
q
C
2
=
A
v
e
r
a
g
e
q
c
o
v
e
r
a
d
i
s
t
a
n
c
e
o
f
8
d
a
b
o
v
e
t
h
e
p
i
l
e
t
i
p
(
p
a
t
h
c
-
e
)
.
U
s
e
t
h
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m
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n
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m
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p
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r
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f
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r
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a
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b
-
c
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q
C
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c
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p
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t
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t
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o
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s
.
I
g
n
o
r
e
a
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y
m
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r
"
x
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p
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a
k
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f
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l
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.
q
C
1
=
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v
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q
c
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a
d
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s
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a
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b
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w
t
h
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p
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t
i
p
(
p
a
t
h
a
-
b
-
c
)
.
S
u
m
q
c
v
a
l
u
e
s
i
n
b
o
t
h
t
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e
d
o
w
n
w
a
r
d
(
p
a
t
h
a
-
b
)
a
n
d
u
p
w
a
r
d
(
p
a
t
h
b
-
c
)
d
i
r
e
c
t
i
o
n
s
.
U
s
e
a
c
t
u
a
l
q
c
v
a
l
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s
a
l
o
n
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m
p
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r
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a
l
o
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a
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b
-
c
.
C
o
m
p
u
t
e
q
C
1
f
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r
y
-
v
a
l
u
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s
f
r
o
m
0
.
7
t
o
4
.
0
a
n
d
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s
e
t
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m
i
n
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C
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d
.
"
C
C
O
.
4
-
%
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,'J
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~
-
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-
-
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>
:
C
-
q
c
_
.
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-
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.
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.
<
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>
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l
(
)
J
:
"
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)
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.
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-
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)
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't
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(
)
-
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)
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(
)
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(
)
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:
.
j
-
<
N(
j
l
Su = 1000 psf or less. However, the end bearing in such
clays will usually represent only a minor part of the total
capacity of a pile.
Occasionally, engineers drive piles that bear in very
strong, highly OC clays and the Dutch calculation for end
bearing produces a significant fraction of the total capacity
of the pile. But, pore pressure dissipation effects, high
pressure creep, and soil-structure weakness on a larger
scale caused by cracks, fissures, slickensides, etc., all
argue for reducing ultimate end bearing from that calculated
in such clays. In the absence of better data, the writer
suggests using the "lvoodward" adhesion ratio reduction factor,
a, presented in Figure 12 to reduce end bearing as computed
by the Figure 11 method. Figure 11 applies to all pile
materials.
4.1.2 Side Friction: Evaluating side friction from the re-
sults of a friction-cone CPT involves an experience and back-up
research record much less than that for end bearing resistance.
The development of the friction-cone tip, with its local sleeve
to measure soil-steel friction at the tip, has greatly improved
the accuracy possible for the prediction of soil-pile side
friction. Friction on the tip friction sleeve can be greatly
reduced if its diameter is less than that of the base of the
cone point. This is especially true for the Fugro tip with
the sleeve immediately above the cone. Check all penetrometer
tips periodically to assure that the sleeve always has a
slightly larger diameter.
4.1.2.1 Sand, with friction-cone ~ s data: The research
results by Freed (1973) and Nottingham (1975) provide the
most comprehensive data on the use of f
s
data to predict
Qs = the ultimate pile side friction capacity. Nottingham
and Schmertmann (1975) gave the detailed design methods
resulting from this work. In Appendix III, pp. 101-104
herein, the reader will find a summary of these methods.
Use Equation (5) on p. 102. ~ o t e the depth-of-embedment
correction over the initial BE of pile penetration from
the surface (in accord with section 2.3). However, for
simplicity, Nottingham does not recommend similar correc-
tions when crossing layer interfaces. For reasons similar
to qc' the Dutch engineers usually use limit values of
f
s
= 1.2 kg/cm
2
in sands and f
s
= 1.0 kg/cm
2
in very
silty sands when computing Qs.
26
1.0 ,
" ,
::::J
""
'"
.......
0.8
' ~ ~ '"
Co
'+0
Kerisel--\,.. ...........
II
........... -...<Peck
.
0.6
~ ' .
".....
"
o'
" '.
Woodward........................
.... " ........
l'Il ....
...
0.4
....
l:: ........
0
--
.........
';;;
Tomlinson.7-----
CIl
.t::
0.2 "'C
<
0'---.........---'----........---1'----.........---1'----.....
o 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5
UNDRAINED SHEAR STRENGTH, Su KiPS/Sa FT
FIGURE 12 - CORRELATIONS OF CLAY ADHESION
PILE RATIO, Ct, WITH UNDRAINED
SHEAR STRENGTH Su
27
4.1.2.2 Sand, without f
s
data: The following Table 3
lists the suggested values for "c" in Equation (6),
which expresses some Dutch current practice for estimating
ultimate pile friction in sand layers when having only qc
data. The qc value of each qc depth interval determines
the contribution to Q
s
over that interval.
C L q A
c s (Eq. 6)
With Table 3 as a guide, use appropriate judgement when
selecting values of C for other types of piles. Note that
the 4.1.1 cutoff level of 300 kg/cm
2
for qc also applies
to Equation (6).
Table 3 - "c" VALUES SUGGESTED
FOR USE IN EQUATION (6)
Type Pile C Notes
a. Precase concrete 0.012
b. Precast, enlarged base 0.009 only along shaft in a dense
group of piles
c. Cast in situ displacement 0.018 Steel driving tube removed
d. "Vibro" pile 0.018 Steel driving tube removed
e. Timber 0.018
f. Steel displacement 0.012
g. Open ended steel pipe 0.008
4.1.2.3 Clay: Presently the design concepts for the
drained side friction of piles in clay are in a state of
transition as the profession moves from the empirical
concepts using undrained strengths to more rational con-
cepts involving drained shear strength behavior. Three
methods using CPT data are suggested herein. All require
evaluating the undrained strength, SUo Section 5.2.1
explains further how to estimate su from CPT data.
The first method involves an empirical correction
factor by which to multiply su to obtain unit pile side
friction. Figure 12 presents various investigator's
estimates of this factor as a function of Su itself
the stiffer the clay the greater the reduction from SUo
The writer recommends using the "Woodward" curve.
28
The second method incorporates effective stress by
including the average effective overburden pressure in
the computations, in accord with Eq. (7).
(Eq. 7)
where:
predicted ultimate positive pile side friction
force
average overburden vertical effective stress
along pile length
s
u
average undrained shear strength along pile
length
A = total side area of pile
st
The key A-term was evaluated empirically (Vijay and Focht,
1972). Nottingham (1975) reviewed their data considering
its probable validity for typical Foridal DOT pile lengths
and sizes. As a result he plotted relative pile embedded
length, LIB, vs. A, resulting in Figure 13. The writer
recommends using this modified form of the A correlation.
The use of Eq. (7) and Figure 13 requires a computation
for the effective vertical overburden pressure, which one
can usually estimate with satisfactory accuracy by esti-
mating soil unit weights and the position of the water
table.
The third method involves 'the direct use of f
s
in
clays, as suggested by Nottingham (Appendix III, pp. 102-
105 herein). Because his research did not include clays
with suv > 0.5 kgf/cm
2
, and because of the negative pore
pressure and other effects noted previously and subsequent-
ly in stiff clays, also reduce f
s
in accord with the
"Woodward" curve in Figure 12. This again involves first
estimating Su (see section 5.2.1).
The rationale behind method 1 above is that driving
piles in stiffer clays results in imperfect contact be-
tween clay and pile throughout the length of the pile, and
that this contact becomes more imperfect the stiffer the
clay; therefore, reduction factors should increase
with stiffness. In addition, stiff clays can produce
negative pore pressures during driving and these dissipate
29
A'
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
0
aa
a 0
A
A
A

20
t:IJoA
A
..

40
60
fA
80
A
.!!
'0.
..c
...
"0
~
.!!
Co
100
..c
...
Co
ClJ
"0
II
CD
---
c
120
140
160
180
A Full-scale piles
o BY..' model piles
4" model piles
200 l....- ........ ---I_---'l....- ~
MODIFIED ACURVE
FIGURE 13 - CORRELATION OF MODIFIED FRICTION CAPACITY
COEFF. A'. WITH RELATIVE PILE PENETRATION
(use A' instead of A in Viiay & Focht formula)
(from Nottingham, 1975)
30
with time and the clay weakens. The rationale behind
method 2 is that the friction against the pile must
depend on the lateral pressure against the pile, which in
turn, depends on the Rankine passive pressure, 2s
u
' for
the undrained conditions during driving. The rationale
behind method 3 is that it takes advantage of an actual
in situ measurement of soil adhesion. Check your problem
using all appropriate methods and use the answer that
seems most reasonable considering local experience.
4.1.3 Negative Side Friction: The above section 4.1.2
applies to positive friction in which the friction force
against the pile acts in the upward direction and the pile loads
the soil and produces higher effective stresses in the vicinity
of the pile sides and tip due to this loading. When the soil
moves down, as by settlement, relative to the pile side, side
friction forces reverse direction and the pile tends to support
the soil, thereby reducing effective stresses against the pile,
and thereby also reducing side friction. To estimate negative
friction use 2/3 of the positive friction values computed
above for a single pile.
4.1.4 Tension Piles: Again because of the resulting change
in effective stresses due to the change in friction direction,
use 2/3 of the computed compression friction for ultimate
tension friction. For the special case of severely fluctuating
tension loads, use only 1/3 of this computed tension friction
over the middle 1/2 of the pile.
4.2 Corrections for Shape of Pile and Method of Pile Insertion
It appears from the work of Begemann (1965) that the type of soil
penetrated and the 'shape of the pile point can significantly change pile
friction. Sharp points increase friction and flat points reduce fric-
tion. Because the cone has a relatively sharp 60
0
point, side friction
is a near-maximum due to point effects when compared to real piles.
Because this effect is not well understood for ordinary compression
piles (Begemann's work was with tension piles), and empirical correla-
tions have been with ordinary piles, do not attempt to treat this effect
separately but consider it included in the high safety factors suggested
in 4.3.
In general, piles driven with vibratory hammers produce reduced
friction, presumably because they produce lower lateral stresses against
the pile. On the other hand, hammer-injected piles, such as the Franki
type, produce greater lateral effective stresses than driven, straight-
sided piles and therefore have greater friction than computed above.
At present little is known quantitatively about these effects and as a
31
rough approximation, halve friction for vibratory piles and double
friction for hammer-injected piles.
Driven, tapered piles can produce much higher apparent side
friction than equivalent straight-sided piles. As an approximation
for the tapered effect, divide the pile into suitable segments of
length, with constant section, such that each segment has the same
total side area as the real tapered pile over the length of the seg-
ment. This \.,ill produce imaginary "steps" with horizontal bearing
area between the constant-section segments. Such steps are real for
step-tapered piles. The bearing on these steps adds directly to the
side friction computed by the above methods for straight-sided piles.
For such computation use the LIB ratio applicable to each constant-
section segment where L = depth below ground surface to the bottom
of that segment and B = diameter of that segment. To estimate this
added bearing, take the qc value at the elevation of each such step
and multiply it by the area of the step. Then further multiply by
the factor "s" given by Nottingham in Appendix III, p. 104 herein,
Table 12, to obtain the total ultimate side resistance contributed
by each step. Should a step occur within a < LIB < 8, further'
multiply by the ratio (L/B)/8.
Concerning drilled-in-place or bored piles, again effective
stresses against the sides of the piles are less than when driven,
thus reducing friction. However, the very rough soil-concrete inter-
face obtained with such piles tends to increase friction. As an
approximation, assume the friction of bored piles equal to 3/4 that
of driven piles. You need not further reduce side friction if the
bored piles are made with the use of drilling mud, or if the piles
are underreamed. Remember that full side friction probably develops
with only about 0.1-0.3 inches relative settlement of the pile, while
full end bearing will probably require 5-15% of shaft or bell (if any)
diameter.
For the case of isolated piles driven with enlarged bases, we
then have acting against the pile shaft above the base the equivalent
of the redial active pressure compared to the radial passive pressure
against a driven pile. Considering the very great difference between
plane active and passive pressures in soils, and the probably even
greater difference between radial passive and active, plus the possibi-
lity of reconsolidation and negative skin friction effects in the soils
that squeeze back against the pile after driving with an enlarged tip,
assume a side friction of zero for design purposes. For the special
case of closely spaced groups of piles with enlarged bases, the driVing
of the adjacent piles will reestablish soil frictional contact along
the shaft immediately above the enlarged base. For this case, and
only within a sand bearing layer, allow (factor of safety included)
0.003 qc shaft friction.
32
Concerning H-piles, they usually develop a perhaps surprlslng
amount of side friction. To account for this, analyze them for both
friction and bearing as if you had a concrete pile with the dimensions
of the rectangle that just encloses the H-pile.
4.3 Factors of Safety
Nottingham's work (1975) showed about equal accuracy for both end
bearing and side friction predictions. Individual CPT local friction
measurements have greater error possibilities, but the overall integral
effect over the entire sides of a pile tends to compensate errors. He
also showed that predictions using an electrical tip have greater
accuracy than those made on the basis of mechanical CPT data.
The following safety factors apply to the ultimate capacity of
axially loaded single piles. Use of these factors should provide a
factor of safety of at least 2.0 with respect to the yield-point load-
ing of a pile (point where soil-support deformations change from
primarily elastic to primarily plastic):
Use F.S.
Use F.S.
2.25
3.00
with electric tip data
with mechanical tip data
FOR BOTH FRICTION AND BEARING.
4.4 Lateral Loading
The usual lateral load problem involves transient loading due to
wind, waves, vehicles, etc. In clays this type of lateral load problem
involves their undrained properties. The problem often becomes one of
estimating deformations and not merely assessing safety against lateral
load failure. Thus the problem also involves the stress-strain pro-
perties of soils. The soil along a laterally loaded pile does not
mobilize its strength simultaneously along its length -- progressive
action becomes important. The problem also involves the transient
stress-strain properties of soils over the full range of stress-strain
behavior, including post-peak.
CPT data, by itself, can make only a partial contribution to such
a complex problem. Perhaps the key to this contribution is to relate
the CPT to the pressuremeter test (PMT) which also involves enlarging
a cylindrical cavity. The uniform radial expansion in the PMT
theory then needs to be related to the one-sided cavity expansion due
to a laterally moving pile.
Table 4 presents the correlations suggested by available data
relating qc to Young's modulus, E, and to the limit pressure from
a pressuremeter test, P
L
, for both sands and clays. Knowing qc, use
this table to estimate E and PL' The correlations in Table 4 apply
to data obtained using the Delft mechanical tips. The writer has not
33
seen similar correlations attempted for the cylindrical tips of the
Fugro type. For cylindrical tips the writer suggests estimating
their equivalent mechanical tip qc from Figure 1-4 and then using
these equivalent qc in Table 4.
TABLE 4 -- GUIDE FOR ESTIMATING PRESSUREMETER E AND P
L
FROM qc USING DELFT MECHANICAL TIPS
Soil Type
sand, dense
sand, loose
silt
clay, insensitive
clay, v. sensitive
E/q
q/P
L c
1 10
1.5 5
2 6
3 3
20 1.5
;.
NOTES: a. Above typical values only depends on
soil stress-strain curve.
b. Error easily 25%, maybe 100%.
Assume that with a laterally loaded pile, where failure usually
occurs first in the surface layer, that deformations are large enough
that the surface soil behind the pile pulls away from the pile. The
average horizontal pressure Ph exerted by the soil to resist the load
is then, at failure, the horizontal force on the soil imposed by the
pile (per unit length of pile) divided by the width of the pile.
Assume that at failure this is 1.10 x the limit pressure.* Figure 14
illustrates and Eq. (8) expresses this assumption.
(Eq. 8)
Analysis for the deflections, shears, and moments in laterally
loaded piles usually makes use of the Winkler hypothesis which re-
presents the soil mass by a series of non-interconnected, parallel
springs -- in this case, horizontal springs along the length of the
pile. The Terzaghi (1955) horizontal subgrade modulus, kh' denotes the
inverse of the spring constant for these springs. The problem becomes
how to estimate kh from cone data. Table 4 shows how to estimate E.
The following equation (Eq. 9), taken from Poulos (1971), permits an
estimate of kh from E.
k
h
= 0.8 E/d (Eq. 9)
* For depths below 4d.
At z = a use 1/3 above (Ph)max' and linear variation to max at 4d.
34
z
. "0
..,
II
N
!:! GI
... c
!! 2
lilt
- - ~ - - -
t
I
dfph dz = H =l::P
h
f over length
of embedded
pile
Ph, = it. z, ,d Ph dz
etc.
assumed at failure
(Ph) max. from (eq.8)
mobilized Ph before failure
FIGURE 14 - ILLUSTRATION OF THE VARIOUS HORIZONTAL PRESSURES
AND FORCES USED FOR THE ANALYSIS OF HORIZONTAL
PILE MOVEMENTS UNDER LATERAL LOAD
plastic-
~ P h
kh = t.y
c:,om Eqn. 9 or Table 5
L... .... y
FIGURE 15 - (p-y) DIAgRAM FOR USE IN FINITE DIFFERENCE APPROX.
ANALYSIS WHEN USING HORIZONTAL SUBGRADE
REACTION TH-eO-RY (different diagram for ea. .:3Z)
35
where:
E = pressuremeter pseudo-elastic modulus
d = diameter of pile
(derived for pile with L/d = 25, Poisson's ratio = 0.5)
Or, the following Table 5 from }1enard provides an alternate, semi-
empirical, method for estimating kh from E:
TABLE 5 -- MENARD's (c. 1965) ESTIMATES OF k
2
(in kg/cm
2
/cm) FROM E (in kg/cm )
pm
E/k
h
for pile diameters, in cm
30 60 120
clay: 19 38 60
silt: 13 26 37
sand: 9 18 22
Comparing the kh values suggested by (Eq.8) and Table 5 shows Menard's
kh greater by a factor of about 2 to 2.5 in clay (Poulos used u = 0.5).
However, Poulos noted that using horizontal subgrade reaction theory
(Winkler hypothesis), and his kh values, he predicted horizontal dis-
placement at the ground surface about 20% too large for very rigid piles
and 250% too large for very flexible piles compared to the presumed
more accurate elastic 1/2-space theory predictions. Thus, use CEq. 9)
for rigid and Table 5 for flexible piles.
Knowing k
h
and the pile limit pressure permits the construction
of an approximate p-y curve as illustrated in Figure 15. Construct such
curves to apply to suitable positions along the pile embedded length.
Then use these curves for the finite difference analysis for pile de-
flections, etc.
Obviously, Figure 15 provides only approximate information for
preliminary design. Modify the shape of the p-y curves thus obtained
in accord with any other soils data available.
4.5 Pile Settlement
Ithasbeen demonstrated in France that an engineer can estimate
the load-settlement performance of single driven or bored piles by using
appropriate theory and pressuremeter test results. The writer has not
studied the details of the computation methods. Perhaps study of the
references noted below can enable the interested reader to make such
computations.
36
Gambin (1963) presented a numerical procedure for evaluating
both the end bearing and the frictional contributions to the settlement
of the top of a single pile. Cas san (1966) suggested a simpler
procedure. which he then improved in Cassan (1968). Both authors
suggest methods for estimating the entire load-settlement curve. and
both note the great importance of friction-induced settlement under
normal working loads. They base the practical application of their
analysis methods on E and P
L
results from pressuremeter tests using
the then-current Menard equipment. For the approximate, and probably
conservative, application of these methods to CPT data, use Tables 4
and 5 herein.
4.6 Group Action
The above methods for interpreting CPT data with respect to pile
design apply only to single piles. ~ ~ e n dealing with piles in groups
close enough to interfere with each other (less than about 8 diameters)
the engineer should make appropriate adjustments depending on the nature
of the problem. For example, bearing and side friction might be con-
trolled by the groups acting as large single piers. Settlement for the
group would normally be greater than that for an individual pile with
the same average load per pile. With the above predictions for single
piles. estimate the settlement of pile groups for pile loadings within
normal working load ranges by means of elastic theory as suggested by
Poulos (1968). For some other references dealing with group effects.
see Moorhouse and Sheehan (1968), and Poulos (197lb).
4.7 Data for Wave Equation Analysis
One of the important inputs into any wave equation analysis of pile
behavior during driving is the distribution of soil resistance against
the pile due to friction and end bearing. CPT data from friction-cone
soundings permit the engineer to estimate this distribution for the
quasi-static rate of penetration. This should usually allow an adequate
estimate for dynamic pile penetration.
37
5. SHEAR STRENGTH
This section deals with estimating the shear strength of soils
from CPT data for problems such as evaluating bearing capacity, slope
stability, compaction control, pile design, etc.
5.1 Sand
5.1.1 Bearing Capacity: Although settlement usually con-
trols design, an engineer must check bearing capacity as
well. Use the Terzaghi bearing capacity equation (Eq. 10),
applicable to about DIB 1.5:
y N + D N + cN
2 y q c
(Eq. 10)
and estimate the bearing capacity factors Ny and N
q
as
fractions of qc (in kg/cm
2
) averaged over the depth interval
a to 1.5B below a foundation (Muhs and Weiss, 1971, p. 27).
Equation (11) expresses this approximation.
0.8 N 0.8 N q in kgf/cm
2
y q c
O
-
l
.
5B
(Eq. 11)
Then use an appropriate safety factor, usually between 2 and
3, to obtain allowable bearing. Because qc increases with
depth in a homogeneous sand, the above method provides for a
bearing capacity increase with embedment greater than that
supplied only by the D-factor in the second term in Equa-
tion (10).
As a check for near-surface footings, you may also use
Figure 16 prepared by Awkati (1970), or Figure 17 by Xeyerhof
(Sanglerat, 1972, p. 118).
5.1.2 Estimating p': Engineers do not ordinarily estimate '
from CPT data but instead use these data to estimate the
desired behavior directly -- such as bearing capacity in sec-
tion 5.1.1. However, one method of estimating ' is via the
intermediate parameter of relative density, which can be
estimated using Figure 5. Then go to a correlation such as
Figure 18 (Burmister, 1948) and obtain an estimate of from
relative density.
Another method involves the use of Equation (11) to obtain
Ny or N
q
, and then using any of the published charts relating
these to '. Figures 8 and 9 on page 93 of Appendix III pre-
sent still other methods of estimating ' from CPT data.
38
T
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l
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D
q
c
(
t
s
f
)
D
-8=3 21.5 1 05
0.100 t----_....... , . . . . . , . - _ . - - . . , . . . . . - ~ - _
0.075
0.050
0.025
From Meyerhof qad = Blm)(1 + )
qc 40 8
o 1 2 3 8 in meters
Fig. 77. Meyerhof's chart for shallow footings.
8: width of designed shallow footing; D: embedment of footing; qc: cone
resistance of static penetrometer; qad: allowable capacity.
FIGURE 17 - ALLOWABLE FOOTING BEARING CAPACITY
BASED ON CPT DATA (settlement not inc!.)
(from Sanglerat, 1972)
40
BEARING CAPACITY ON COHESIONLESS SOILS:
Chart for the approximate evaluation of the peak angle of internal friction after
the relative density has been evaluated. Modified from: Burmister, Donald M.
"The Importance and Practical Use of Relative Density in Soil Mechanics," ASTM
Proc. Vol. 48.1948
)(
III
E
:e-
li
c'
0
"fl
~
.;:
....
)(
iii
III C
';: ...
~
Gl
..
C
....
0
Gl
c;,
C
III
..lo:
III
Gl
CI.
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Relative Density, in %
Note of caution:
In problems where the sand may strain
past the peak strength value before a
general failure occurs, then a reduced
value of 4> must be used (particularly
in the denser cohesionless soils).
'"
'" Gl
...
..
'"
.!!!
x
III
strain
FIGURE 18 - ESTIMATING SAND 4>'FROM ESTIMATE OF
RELATIVE DENSITY
41
Durgunog1u and Mitchell (1975) presented a theory which
has some promise for estimating a sand's from qc for
shallow depths, say to 1-2 meters.
Remember that all of these methods will produce likely
incorrect estimates of if pore pressure effects contribute
significantly to qc. Negative pore pressures, if ignored, may
produce a too-high estimate of and positive too-low. If
you wish drained friction, then reduce penetration rate until
further reduction no longer changes qc.
5.2 Clay
5.2.1 Undrained Strength, su: Note that the strength
of a clay depends significantly on the type of test used, the
rate of strain, the orientation of the failure planes, and
probably other factors yet to be discovered. The more soil
engineers learn about Su the more they realize its empirical
nature. Nevertheless, it remains important in many of today's
design procedures. When evaluating Su from cone tests use
equation (12). Here N
c
equals a Terzaghi-type bearing capacity
factor for the cohesive contribution to bearing, but applied
to the small-diameter, deep foundation case represented by
CPT qc data.
qc
- y z
s =
uu N
C
__..3....=-
tll.fe,.

\ ,.
I ,
I I
--ll...... I I
-:- : Je I
is (Soil ."
-' e
bor,"t
-- - - cotle--
NOTES:
(Eq. 12)
y = total (not effec-
tive) unit weight
Ignore borehole (if any)
correction to y z .
but qc
until below 3 bore-
hole diameters below
borehole.
Ignore zwYw in z y if
qc set = 0 at mud-
line.
DIAGRAM TO EXPLAIN EMPIRICAL USE
OF EQ. (12) (Water above or
below ground surface)
Unfortunately, N
c
is not a constant but varies with the
stress-strain properties of the clay. Figure 19, adapted from
Ladanyi (1967), clearly illustrates this point. In general,
the more sensitive the clay the lower N
c
with limits of about
10 for an insensitive clay (E- = 0) and 1 for an infinitely
42
10,----"'T""-----r----"'T""-------"'T""-----r----..,
8
6
4
2
shown corrected St =qp/qr
qp----;. ---
r-- ..... actual
E+; l, ""'l
, I 1
I I ~ - - - ,
I ...... IE
I """ I
: ' ~
I
----- ~ --------------- - - - - ~ - -
idealized stress-strain
250 100 50 10 4 2
OL---....... - ~ - - - - .......-------....... - ~ - - - - . . I
1
E+/E-
Theoretical variation of N
c
for strip load within homogeneous clay and with
progressive failure (based on B. Ladanyi, 1967)
FIGURE 19
43
sensitive (E- = ~ ) clay. N
c
also increases with rate of
penetration. The design of the cone tip further influences
N
c
-- for example, any mantle above the cone permits clay
friction to be measured as part of cone resistance and thus
increases the N
c
factor required. The literature reports most
N
c
ranging from about 5 to 20 for Fugro-type tips a ~ d from
about 10 to 25 for the Delft mechanical tips. Average values
for normal penetration rates in "average" clays are about
N
c
= 10 and 16 for these tips, respectively.
Figures 20 and 21 from the Norwegian Geotechnical
Institute (NGI) (1975), present some results from a joint
research project in Scandinavian clays by Fugro and the NGI,
wherein equation (12) was used to backfigure N
c
' Lunne (1975)
and Lunne et al. (1976) have now published some results from
this joint calibration project. The NGI supplied the suv data
from Geonor field vanes tests, and Fugro supplied the qc data
using Fugro tips. These data clearly suggest that the weaker
the clay, the higher N
c
' N
c
approaches 10 in the stronger
clay. As presented at the Stockholm ESOPT, similar tips pro-
duced results similar to Figure 20. If yoa are working with
very weak clays you must increase N
c
' Use Figure 20 as a
guide. Some recent research in Scandinavia and France also
suggests that N
c
tends to decrease with increasing depth and
also with increasing plasticity index.
In summary, it seems reasonable to first-estimate Su by
using the N
c
values of 10 (cylindrical tips) and 16 (Delft
mechanical tips). Koutsoftas and Fischer (1976), for example,
obtained good results using N
c
= 16. In some, perhaps many, .
cases your clays will produce questionable results and the
engineer must make a local correlation for N
c
using equation
(12). A key question then arises: What suu to correlate
against? Clearly, if possible we should correlate against
actual suu values backfigured from failures. Given the scarcity
of such suu' an engineer will likely have to correlate against
the type of suu with which he has the most experience and con-
fidence -- such as from unconfined, triaxial of various types,
or vane tests.
5.2.2 Remolded Undrained Strength: One can estimate roughly
the remolded undrained strength, as obtained by a field vane
test, by assuming the adhesion strength along the friction
sleeve of the friction-cone penetrometer tip as the average
between suu obtained from equation (12) and sur'
5.2.3 Drained Strength: No practical method exists at present
to estimate the undisturbed, drained strength parameters of a
clay based only on CPT data. One method of possible ~ s e in
higher permeability clays is to reduce the rate of penetration
in steps to very slow rates. Then graph the changing qc against
rate and extrapolate to rate = O. Then use equation (12) but re-
duce N
c
by 10% and use the effective rather than the total unit
weight of the soil.
44
60 50
)(
6-10
4-7 15-24
6 +
+ +
13-17 13-19
Range in Sensitivity
10-15/
o
t:.
5-10
D
6-9
34
o
10-25
-2 V
Cb
24
>50
v
20
LEGEND:
o SUNDLAND x
10 c DANVIKS GT 10-15
V E. B0R RESENS GT
t:. ONS0Y
+ G0TEBORG
x SK$.;EDEBY
5 ......_ ......_ ...... ......
o 10 20 30 40
PLASTICITY,I P' %
t.l
Z
..
o

z
a:: 15

C,)

LL
w
z
8
FIG. 8. SUMMARY OF N
k
VALUES FROM ALL SITES.
TABLE 1. Summary of N
k
values
Test Depth Range Plasticity Cone Factor
site (m) T
f
h/m
2
) 'p(%) Sensitivity N
k
Sundland 4-9 2-2.5 2228 10-15 17-18
Drammen 9-14 2-4.5 -10 -2 20
14-22 2.5-4 -10 3-4 15.5
Dansvigs gate 510 23 20-25 6-9 14-15
Drammen 11-30 2-4 1011 2-4 14-16
B(lIrresens gate 5.5-12 32 -15 1525 16-20
Drammen 12-30 1.3-2.5 -5 50160 2024
OnSj!ly 1-9 1.2-1.4 20-30 510 16-18
10-20 1.8-4.8 35-40 4-7 1318
14 0.6-1.2 4580 6-10 89
4-12 0.8-2.0 30-50 10-15 1012
Gj!lteborg 3-10 1.5-2.5 50-60 15-24 13.5-14.5
1021 2.54.2 50-55 13-19 13-14
21-30 4.5-5.5 -40 13-17 13-14
FIGURE 20 - OF A LOCAL CORRELATION FOR N
c
(Fig. and Table from Lunne et. aI., 1976, when using
Fugro electric cone tip and Geonor vane in normally
consolidated Scandinavian clays)
45
30 r----.....-----'T'"----,.----r-----r-----,
+ SANDNES: hard clay. 2-10 m
X SANDNES: hard fissured clay, 10 m
o SANDNES: hard clay, 16-24 m
20
AARHUS: UNIVERSITET
10
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
o
o
x
x
X
I

OLJEMOLLEN
80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10
OL- ...L- .....i- ---' .L.- -"- .....i- ---' ---'
o
PLASTICITY INDEX, %
Date: Drawn by:
CONE PENETRATION TESTS IN CLAY
23.4.75 C.D.
Approved:
N
c
AGAINST PLASTICITY FOR ALL SITES
Project
no.:
52155
Norwegian Geotechnical Institute 14
FIGURE 21 - CORRELATION BETWEEN FUGRO CONE qc
AND GEONOR VANE suv' OVERCONSOLIDATED
CLAYS IN SCANDINAVIA
46
5.3 Mixed Soils
Soils with mixed cohesion and friction properties, such as clayey
sands, sandy and silty clays, etc., present a difficult problem for
engineering properties assessment from cone penetration test data.
the aid of local experience an engineer can often identify such soils
by using a friction-cone, determining friction ratio profiles, and using
a correlation such as in Figure 2. As an approximation, he can treat
the penetrometer data as if it came from a theoretically cohesionless
and then from a perfectly cohesive soil. Then he must interpolate
for the properties of the real, mixed soil. Unfortunately, this often
leaves much room for-error.
Supplemental data can help greatly. For exanple, if the soil has
enough cohesion (not due only to partial saturation and capillarity) to
permit performing an unconfined test, and samples for such tests are
available from soils in the same layer as tested for qc' then Figure 22
can aid in determining an undrained for that soil. Note that Figure 22
is based on tests from only two sites, both in the same area of Florida.
Also, as described in detail by Prochaska (1967), extracting from
such data involves several approximations and assumptions that make the
method undesirable for general use. Areas with other
and/or environments of soil formation, other relative degrees of dis-
turbance in the unconfined test sample, and using other types of
penetrometer tips will likely produce a different correlation. If
possible, establish a local correlation -- preferably by more direct
means of evaluating , such as undisturbed sampling and triaxial tests
or in situ borehole shear tests.
47
....... __-...._.50
Based on unconfined tests on SPT samples
from nonsensitive cohesive soils at 2 FLA. sites
(use your own local correlation)
50
40
30
.J:.
...
Cl
c:
Cll
...
...
II>
"
20
Cll
c:

c:
0
(.J
c:
::::J
)(

Cl
c:
';;:
10.0
)(
10.0
n:l
Cll
..c
9
Cll
c:
8 0

(.J
Co
7
Xx
'';::;
c:
E
Xle
Cl
Cll
CD
5
X
II
::::J
X
C'
4

co

"""u
C'

3
1.00... ........--1.L.0--......L.--2-L0---L.--..-L..---'----4.... 0--........
4Jo
ANGLE OF INTERNAL FRICTION
FIGURE 22 - RATIO OF CONE BEARING CAPACITY TO THEORETICAL
BEARING CAPACITY IN CLAY VERSUS THE COMPUTED
ANGLE OF INTERNAL FRICTION.
48
6. ESTIMATING SETTLEMENTS
This section deals primarily with estimating the settlement of
structural foundations including footings, mats and pile groups. How-
ever, it may also be used to estimate the settlements under fills and
large loaded areas such as oil and water tanks.
6.1 Sand Layers
The writer, and Sanglerat (1972) recommend the use of the strain
factor method reported by Schmertmann (1970) for estimating the settle-
ment of footings over sand. Although the reader should study this 1970
paper to more completely understand the method, for completeness within
these "Guidelines" the following presents a summary of how to use the
method. It includes the same example problem as in the 1970 paper.
When comparing the following with 1970, note that the writer has now
modified the method to separate the plane strain (long footing) and
axisymmetric (square footing) cases.
To get the settlement estimate, solve the following equation (13),
(14) and (15):
wherein:
n I
C
l
C
2
t:.p
L x
z
t:.Z
P
1
qc
,
C
l
1 - 0.5
( ~ )
t:.p
t
C
2
1 + 0.2 10glO
(---.Y!.)
0.1
(Eq. 13)
(Eq. 14)
(Eq. 15)
I
z
n =
t:.z =
x =
settlement in units of t:.z
correction factor for depth of embedment
correction factor for secondary creep settlement
net foundation pressure increase at bottom footing, in qc
units, after subtracting p'
o
strain influence factor at the centerheight of each assumed
constant-qc sublayer. See Fig. 23 for square and long
footing Iz-depth diagrams
number of qc sublayers to depth below footing = 2B (square
footing) or 4B (long footing) or to assumed rigid boundary
layer if this comes first. B = least width of loaded area
thickness of each of the n sublayers
factor by which to multiply CPT qc to obtain equivalent sand
Young's modulus, - 2.5 for square and 3.5 for long footings
49
p'
o
t
yr
previous effective overburden
of the bottom of the footing
time in years from application
pressure at the elevation
of pI + ~ p on footing
o
To provide the information for these equations, use the
following procedure:
(a) Obtain the static cone bearing capacity (qc) believed appli-
cable for the footing location over the depth interval from the proposed
footing contact level to a depth of 2B (square footing) or 4B (long
footing), or to a boundary layer that can be assumed incompressible,
whichever occurs first.
(b) Simplify the qc log into a succession of layers of constant
qc to approximate the actual log. Figure 24 shows such a log after such
a simplification. This example considers an actual bridge pier case --
No.1 in Schmertmann (1970).
(c) Decide whether you have an axisymmetric (square footing) or
plane strain (long footing -- say length/width = LIB ~ 10) case. Super-
impose the appropriate strain factor diagram, as described in Figure 23,
over the qc log. Figure 24 also illustrates this superposition for this
plane strain example. Use equation (16), shown in Figure 23, to obtain
the peak v a l u ~ of strain factor = I
zp
' In this example I
zp
= 0.5 +
0.1(1.5/0.58) 2 = 0.66.
(d) Prepare a table with headings similar to those in Table 6 and
fill in the columns with appropriate values from the above data, as shown
(e) Sum the last column in Table 6, compute C
l
and Cz from equa-
tions (14) and (15), calculate 6p and then calculate the settlement, p,
from equation (13). The above example shows these final computations be-
low Table 6.
(f) For 1 < LIB < 10 the engineer can solve for both the axi-
symmetric and plane strain cases and interpolate.
The above methods should be used only with first-loading cases with
adequate bearing capacity. If the sand has been prestrained by previous
footings or other loads producing significant prior shear strain, then
real settlements will likely be significantly less than predicted by
the above method. Engineers suspect that overconsolidation, or pre-
loading by other means, including roller compaction, will decrease the
settlement of a preloaded sand under subsequent loading by a factor
greater than the resulting increase in qc would indicate. If such pre-
loading has occurred, tentatively use 1/2 the above predicted settlement
as probably still conservative. Or, other methods could then be more
suitable, such as extrapolating plate bearing load tests or triaxial
test stress path methods (see Lambe, 1967).
50
Rigid footing vertical strain influence factor =I
z
o 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6

(see (b) below)
fl
p
I
zp
= 0.5 + 0.1 -.- (Eq. 16)
v p
B =least width foundation
L = length foundation
(a) Simplified strain influence
factor distributions
,>=1
/
/
/
/
/
/
.4- plane strain
/ L/B >10
/
/
/
/
/
/
B/2
B
Gi

en
c:
.;;
8
-
2B
o
Gi
.D
,&;
...
0-
Cl.l
"
Cl.l
>
'';:;
"'
Gi 3B
ex:
4B
B
t
Po'
B/2 (axisym) 0v'p
B (pI. str.)
depth to I
zp
(b) Explanation of pressure
terms in Eq. 16
FIGURE 23 - MODIFIED STRAIN INFLUENCE FACTOR DIAGRAMS
FOR USE IN SCHMERTMANN METHOD FOR
ESTIMATING SETTLEMENT OVER SAND
51
til
II:
w
~
w
:2
z
oJ'
w
>
w
oJ
Z
o
~
<l:
Cl
Z
::>
o
u.
28
D",2.0m
Po=O.32 kg/cm
2
~ =1 g/cm
3
48
FIGURE24- TEST CASE NO.1 AS COMPUTATIONAL EXAMPLE
52
TABLE 6 - Example computation for settlement on sand,
from Figure 24
Note: LIB = 8.8 used long footing case, x = 3.5
B = 260 em
I 0.66
zp
layer
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
{:,Z
(em)
100
30
170
50
100
70
130
100
100
150
40
E = 1040 em
= 4B
Z
(em)
50
115
215
325
400
485
585
700
800
925
1020
I
z
0.29
0.40
0.58
0.61
0.54
0.47
0.38
0.29
0.20
0.10
0.02
25
35
35,
70
30
85
170
60
100
40
65
I f:.Z/3.5 q
z e
(cm/kg/em
2
)
0.331
0.098
0.805
0.124
0.514
0.111
0.083
0.138
0.057
0.107
0.004
E 2.372
I {:,Z
P C
1
C
2
{:,p I ~
s
C
1
= 1 = 0.5 ~ : ; ~ = 0.89
5
C
2
= 1 + 0.2 10g10 0.1 = 1.34
{:,p = 1.82 = 0.32 = 1.50 kg/em
2
p = 0.89 (1.34) 1.50 (2.372)
= 4.24 em
= 1. 67 in.
53
Note also that the above method applies only to conventional static
loading. Dynamic loading can produce many times the static settlement,
at equal maximum footing pressures, if over loose sand and the vertical
accelerations reach 1/2-1 times gravity. Dynamic loading, and also
simple cyclic or repetitiona1 loading, can also produce larger settle-
ment due to the strength reduction resulting from a net generation-
dissipation accumulation of pore water pressure and the consequent
reduction of effective stress. Similar behavior can occur in clays.
In cohesion1ess soils this action can lead to time intervals of near-
zero effective stress and consequent large deformations. The best
protection against dynamic or cyclic load induced settlements is a
sufficiently high dry density or relative density andlor to prestress
the soil.
6.2 Clay Layers
(Eq. 17) LH
6.2.1 Schmertmann Method: This method is based on using
the sulp' value as an indication of the overconsolidation
ratio (OCR), as explained in section 2.7 and Figure 6. The
CPT qc provides a means of estimating su, as explained in
section 5.2. The engineer can estimate the effective over-
burden pressure, p', from estimates of soil unit weight and
water pressure. Table 7 then provides a basis for estimating
the compressibility coefficient of the soil as a function of
OCR. Then put the compressibility of the soil into Equation
(17), and use it to estimate the settlement of the clay, 6H.
n C pi + 6pi_2
i [H
1
(1 + ~ 1 ) 10g
l0
(pi )J
where:
for each
sublayer
n = no. of compressible sublayers used
{
CC = compression index = 6e/6(10g10
P
')
el initial void ratio
pi = initial vertical effective stress
6pi_2 = expected increase in stress
H
1
= initial thickness
in analysis
TABLE 7 - ESTIXATING THE CONSOLIDATION OF CLAYS FROM sulp'
o - 0.1
0.1 - 0.25
0.26 - 0.50
0.51 - 1.00
1 - 4
over 4
approx. OCR
less than 1
1
1 to 1.5 (assume 1)
3
6
greater than 6
greater than 0.4
(still consolidating)
0.4
0.3
0.15
0.10
0.05
54
The above method produces only an estimate. Special soil
conditions or special problems, which perhaps become obvious
from such an estimate, will require more. exact methods such
as undisturbed sampling and oedometer testing. Also note
that the above Table 7 may need modification for different
local soil conditions. For example, in clays,
with su/p' varying from 0.1 to 0.5 and all believed NC, have
compressibilities that increase with su/p' (as does PI with
these clays) rather than decrease as suggested in Table 5.
Some NC, sensitive, cemented clays can have a compressibility
exceeding 0.4.
6.2.2 Sanglerat Method: As an alternate to the above, or
perhaps as a check, the following outlines a method based on
extensive comparative qc and oedometer testing, primarily in
France (Sanglerat, 1976). The method uses the original method
of Buisman, but with the qc correlations from the more recent
work.
In this method the engineer employs the following equation:
t>R (Eq. 18)
with the following Table 8 providing a guide for the a
o
values
to use:
TABLE 8 - SANGLERAT'S SUGGESTED VALUES FOR a
o
Type Soil
0.15 to 0.4
0.4 to 0.8
0.8 to 1.7
0.5 to 1
0.8 to 1.5
w 90-130%
1. 5 to 3
\07 over 300%
over 3
Recent alluvium less than 7
(CL) 7 to 20
over 20
Recent alluvium less than 20
(CH) over 30
Peaty soils
(OR)
(See Sanglerat, 1972, sections 11.3 and 11.4, for more data.)
6.3 Differential Settlement
Given sufficient data, the writer suggests estimating differential
settlements by making the above computations for settlement, using 6.1
55
for sand layers and 6.2 for clay under different parts of the
loaded area being considered, and thus obtain possible differential
settlements. Make an appropriate reduction for estimated structural
stiffness effects.
One can also use the statistical approach wherein it has been found
by detailed investigations of settlement data, from a relatively few
that maximum differential settlements between adjacent load
points in sand range from about 0.5 to 1.0 the maximum settlement. Take
0.75 as an usually conservative.
In clay soils experience shows soils more uniform and thus they
produce less differential settlement. Take 0.33 the maximum settlement
as the likely maximum settlement between adjacent load points. Caution
-- if these estimates show a problem becomes critical, or for an unusual
load use more accurate methods.
6.4 Rate of Settlement
Ordinary CPT data produces no direct evaluations of permeability
or pore pressure generation and and thus nothing of direct
use to estimate rate of drainage or settlement. However, continuous
qc logs might provide a good indication of drainage layers otherwise
only detected by continuous sampling.
If an electric cone-piezometer tip is available -- either the Fugro
tip designed for the purpose or the Geonor vibrating wire tip or some
other that becomes available -- then permeability may be estimated by
observing the rate of dissipation of pore pressure as measured by such
a tip immediately after penetration has stopped. No well established
theory exists at present to relate this rate of dissipation to permea-
bility. The soil's compressibility also enters the problem as well
as the variable sample disturbance effects around the tip, and the dia-
meter and location of the porous sensing element on the tip. Use
Figure 25 for a permeability estimate, based on very limited empirical
data. Note that when using Figure 25 one should expect errors in k by
a factor of 10.
56
;:s
1000
+1
...
Q)
.r.
...
'Ii)
100
"'2
'E
-
c::
10 0
";;
III
Q.
'w
II>
:c
1
...
0
-
Q)
E
i='
0.1
10-S
Permeability. k (em/sec)
FIGURE 25 - PRELIMINARY CORRELATION BETWEEN
INSITU PERMEABILITY AND TIME FOR
50% and 90% DISSIPATION OF EXCESS
HYDROSTATIC PORE PRESSURE AFTER
STOPPING PENETRATION OF A CONEPIEZ.
57
7. LIST OF REFERENCES*
1. Alperstein, R. and S. Leifer (1976), "Site investigation with static
cone penetrometer," ASCE, J-GED, May, pp. 539-555.
2. Awkati, Z. (1970), unpublished, prepared for office use while em-
ployed by Soil Exploration Company, St. Paul, Minn.
3. Baligh, M. and R. Scott (1975), "Quasi-static deep penetration in
clays," ASCE, J-GED, Vol. 101, GTll, Nov., pp lU9-1133.
4. Begemann, H.K. (1953), "Improved method of determining resistance to
adhesion by sounding through a loose sleeve placed behind the
cone," Proc. 3rd ICSM&FE, Vol. I, pp. 213-217.
5. Begemann, H.K. (1963), "The use of the static penetrometer in
Holland," New Zealand Engineering, February, p. 42.
6. Begemann, H.K. (1965), "The friction jacket cone as an aid in
determining the soil profile," Proc. 6th ICSM&FE, Vol. 1,
pp. 17-20.
7. Begemann, J.K. (1965), "The maximum pulling resistance of a single
tension pile calculated on the basis of results of the ad-
hesion jacket cone," Proc. 6th ICSM&FE, Vol. II, p. 229.
8. Burmister, D. (1948), "The importance and practical use of relative
densi ty in soil mechanics," Proc. of the ASTM, Vol. 84, p. 1.
9. Cassan, H. (1966), "Le tassement des Pieux; Synthese des recherches
recentes et Essais comparatifs," Sol Soils, No. 18-19, p. 43.
10. Cassan, H. (1968), "same as above, suite et fin," Sol Soils,
No. 20, p. 23.
11. Dahlberg, R. (1974), "The effect of the overburden pressure on the
penetration resistance in a pre10aded natural fine sand deposit,"
Proc. ESOPT, Stockholm, Vol. 2.2, pp. 89-91.
12. Freed, D. (1973), "Prediction of pile side resistance of smooth and
rough 4 inch square concrete model piles driven in sand using
static cone penetrometer data," University of Florida M.S.C.E.
thesis, December, 207 pp.
*Also see reference list at end of Appendix III for a reference cited
and not found in this listing, and also for the meaning of abbrevia-
tions used in both listings.
58
13. Gambin, M. Ph. (1963), "Computation of the settlement of a slender
deep foundation in terms of pressuremeter test results,
Sol Soils, No.7 (in French).
14. Holden, J. (1971), "Research on performance of soil penetrometers,"
University of Florida Dept. of Civil Engineering internal
report CE-SM-7l-l, August.
15. Joustra, K. (1974), "Comparative measurements on the influence of
the cone shape on results of soundings," Proc. ESOPT, Stockholm,
Vol. 2.2, p. 199.
16. Kok, L. (1974), liThe effect of the penetration speed and the cone
shape on the Dutch static cone penetration test results, 11
Proc. ESOPT, Stockholm, Vol. 2.2, p. 215.
17. Koutsoftas, D. and J. Fischer (1976), "In-situ undrained shear
strength of two marine clays," ASCE, J-GED, Vol. 102, GT9,
September, pp. 989-1005.
18. Ladanyi, B. (1967), "Deep punching of sensitive clays," Proc.
3rd PanAro Conference on SM&FE, Caracas, July.
19. Ladd, .C. and R. Foott (1974), "Ne\v design procedure for stability
of soft clays," ASCE, J-GED, July, p. 769.
20. Lambe, T. W. (1967), "Stress path method," ASCE, J-SM&FD,Vol. 93,
SM6, November, pp. 309-331.
21. Lunne, T. (1975), "Correlations between vane shear strength and cone
resistance in some Norwegian soft clays," Proc. ASCE, SC-IMSP,
Raleigh, Vol. II, pp. 161-163 (a discussion).
22. Lunne, T., O. Eide and J. deRuiter (1976), "Correlations between
cone resistance and vane shear strength in some Scandinavian
'soft to medium stiff clays," Canadian Geotechnical Journal,
Vol. 13, pp. 430-441.
23. Massarsch, R. and D. Holtz, B. Holm, A. Fredriksson (1975),
Measurement of horizontal in situ stresses," ASCE, SC-IMSP,
Raleigh, Vol. 1, p. 266.
24. Menard, 1. (1965), d'une fondation profonde soumise a
des efforts de renversement" (source not determined).
25. Meyerhof, G. G. (1956), "Penetration tests and bearing capacity of
cohesionless soils," ASCE, J-SM&FD, Vol. 82, SM1, p. 5.
26. Moorhouse, D. and J. Sheehan (1968), "Predicting safe capacity of pile
groups," Civil Engineering, ASCE, October, pp. 44-48.
27. Muhs, H. and K. Weiss (1971), "Study of the bearing capacity and
settlement behavior of single, near-surface footings in non-
uniform cohesionless oil," Degebo Heft 26 (in German).
59
28. Nottingham, L. and J. Schmertmann (1975), "An investigation of
pile capacity design procedures," Final Report D629 .to Florida
Dept. of Transportation from Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ.
of Florida, Sept., 159 pp.
29. Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) (1975), Internal reports
52155-2 and -3, "A comparison between cone resitance and vane
shear strength in some Scandinavian clays: Part A: Soft clays,
Part B: Overconsolidated Clays," April.
30. Poulos, H. G. (1968), "Analysis of the settlement of pile groups,"
Geotechnique, Vol. 18, ~ o . 4, pp. 449-471.
31. Poulos, H. G. (1971), "Behavior of laterally loaded piles: 1-
Single piles," ASCE, J-SM&FD, Vol. 97, S:'15, May, p. 722.
32. Poulos, H. G. (197lb), ibid. Part II - Pile groups, pp. 733-751.
33. Prochaska, B. (1967), "J. Hillis Hiller Health Center foundation
feasibility study." Haster's thesis presented to the Dept. of
Civil Engineering, University of Florida, see Chapter 5
(unpublished) .
34. Sanglerat, G. (1972), The Penetrometer and Soil Exploration, Elsevier
Publishing Co., Amsterdam.
35. Sanglerat, G. (1976), "Talking Point," Ground Engineering, Vol. 9,
No.6, September, p. 2.
36. Schmertmann, J. H. (1970), "Static cone to compute static settle-
ment over sand," ASCE, J-SM&FD, Vol. 96, SH3, Hay, pp. 1011-1043.
37. Schmertmann, J. H. (1971), Discussion to DeMell's SOA paper "The
standard penetration test," 4th PanAm Conf. SH&FE, Puerto Rico,
Vol. III, pp. 90-98.
38. Schmertmann, J. H. (1972), "Effects of in situ lateral stress on
friction-cone penetrometer data in sands," Fugro Sondeer
Symposium, pp. 37-39 (published by Fugro-Cesco, Inc., The
Netherlands) .
39. Schmertmann, J. H. (1974), "Penetration pore pressure effects on
quasi-static cone bearing, qc," Proc. ESOPT, Stockholm, Vol. 2.2,
p. 346.
40. Schmertmann, J. H. (1974b), "CPT to help understand SPT," Discussion
to ESOPT, Stockholm, Vol. 2.1, p. 146.
41. Schmertmann, J. H. (1976), "Predicting the qc/N Ratio -- Interpret-
ing the dynamics of the Standard Penetration Test," University
of Florida Final Report, Project D-636, to the Florida Dept. of
Transportation, October, 34 pp. 38 Figures.
60
42. Terzaghi, K. (1955), "Evaluation of coefficients of subgrade
reaction," Geotechnique, Vol. 5, pp. 297-326.
43. Torstensson, B-A (1975), "Pore pressure sounding instrument,"
ASCE, SC-IMSP, Vol. II, pp. 48-54.
44. Vijayvergiya, V. N. and J. A. Focht, Jr. (1972), "A new way to
predict capacity of piles in clay," Offshore Technology
Conference, Dallas, paper 1718.
61
8. NOTATION AND ABBREVIATIONS
A = pile-soil side contact area per f or q determination
s s c
A = total A in clay layers
st s
B least width of a footing-type foundation
c = undrained cohesion = s
u
c. circa, or approximately
c origin cohesion = s when effective stress extrapolated to 0
o u
C = correction factor for Q when no f data
s s
C = compression index from oedometer test
c
CPT abbrev. for quasi-static cone penetration test
CRB abbrev. for Country Roads Board (Australia)
d diameter of cone point or pile tip
D pile penetration into sand layer
thickness of overburden lost due to erosion
depth of embedment of footing-type foundation
relative void ratio = relative density, D
r
initial void ratio
Young's modulus
h
equivalent E for sand due to vertical loading from a footing-type
foundation
E+, E = see Figure 19
E = E determined from pseudo-elastic part of a PMT
pm
E
s
ESP = effective stress path
f ultimate pile friction stress
p
f unit friction + adhesion stress on the friction sleeve
s
FR or F.R. = friction ratio = (f Iq ).100%, also denoted Rf
sc
FS = factor of safety
h = footing depth of embedment, also denoted D
6H computed settlement
HI initial thickness of a compressible soil layer
I vertical strain influence factor
z
62
I maximum, or peak value of I
zp z
k = coefficient of permeability (velocity units)
K' for in situ condition of no K
o
K NC = K if same soil was normally consolidated
01 0
L = length of pile embedded in soil
length of a rectangular foundation of width B
K'
k
h
= coefficient of subgrade reaction
K = correlation factor for Q when using f data
s s
ratio horiz/vertical effective stress = cr'/a'
r v
horizontal strain
n number of sand layers, including bearing layer, penetrated by a pile
number of compressible layers included in a settlement analysis
N = blowcount in a SPT
NC, nc = abbrev. for normally consolidated
N , N ,N = Terzaghi bearing capacity factors, functions of
y q c
OC, oc = abbrev. for overconsolidated
OCR = abbrev. for overconsolidation ratio
p = ave. vertical pressure applied by footing at footing bearing level
p' =
p' =
vertical effective overburden pressure
ave. p' along part of L in clay
ave. horizontal pressure, across d, exerted on soil by a laterally
loaded pile
= limit pressure from a PMT
for plasticity index
PL
p'
o

PI =
original
p - p'
o
abbrev.
p' at footing bearing level
PMT = abbrev. for pressuremeter test
q = bearing capacity
qc = cone bearing capacity from a CPT
qcNC = qc when normally consolidated soil tested by vertical penetration
q = q due only to c
co c 0
63
s
uu
qc
undrained shear strength, undisturbed soil = s =
u
s
ur
s
uv
s
u
undrained shear strength, remolded soil
undrained shear strength determined by field vane test
ave. undrained shear strength in all clay layers penetrated by
a pile
SPT = abbrev. for standard penetration test
St = soil sensitivity (see Eq. 4)
t = time
q = ave. q over some specified depth interval
c c
q = maximum" allowable pile point bearing stress
pa
q = unconfined compressive strength
u
Q
p
= total end bearing force at pile point (FS = 1)
Q
s
= total side friction force along pile (FS = 1)
Q
u
= ultimate bearing capacity force of a footing-type foundation
R =
P
"
weight water/weight dry soil = water content
horizontal pile displacement due to lateral loading
depth below soil surface
closure angle between q vs. depth and q = 0 or q lines
c c co
= coefficient used in Buisman settlement formulas
unit weight of soil
denotes "change in .
P = settlement
v
w
y
z
a =
a
0
y
/).
=
TSP = abbrev. for total stress path
u = excess hydrostatic pore water pressure
UF = abbrev. for University of Florida
volume
O'"'+O"+cr'
v r r
3
effective major principal stress
effective radial or horizontal stress
effective vertical stress
= effective octahedral stress
crt
r
cr' =
v
cr'
oct
cr' =
~ = total stress Mohr-Coulomb friction angle
~ ' = effective stress Mohr-Coulomb friction angle
64
APPENDIX I
FACTORS AFFECTING INTERPRETATION OF CPT DATA
65
APPENDIX I - FACTORS AFFECTING INTERPRETATION OF CPT DATA
The user of these "Guidelines" would do well to become familiar
with those variables that can significantly influence CPT data.
1.1 Theories for CPT Behavior
At present we have two alternate ways of theorizing about the
behavior of a penetrating cone. The oldest considers the problem as
one of bearing capacity, and the newest considers the problem as one of
cavity expansion. As discussed in Sections 3.36 and 3.21 of Appendix III
both theories have produced practical insight. Because of its superiority
by more naturally considering compressibility and pore pressure effects,
the writer believes that the cavity expansion theories will ultimately
dominate. The bearing capacity theories appear most useful for near-
surface penetration into dense soils -- hence for the important case of
compaction testing.
1.2 Effect of Vertical Effective Stress at Constant K'
Laboratory chamber tests with controlled stress and density
conditions in sand (Holden, 1971, Chapman, 1974, Veismanis, 1974)
have shown that cone bearing capacity, q , varies with vertical effective
stress approximately as indicated by Figfire I-I. One finds a small inter-
cept "a" at zero effective stress (sand surface), followed by essentially
linear behavior to point "b". At point "b" crushing of the sand grains
becomes noticeable and progressively more severe as vertical stress
increases. The corresponding deviation from the a-b straight line be-
comes progressively greater but qc still continues to increase at the
approximately 4 kg/cm
2
vertical stress limit of the chamber tests. For
"ordinary" quartz sands point "b" occurs at about qc = 100 kg/cm
2
, but
in relatively non-crushable sands such as Ottawa sand, this point may
exceed 300 kg/cm
2
. In very crushable sands it would be correspondingly
less than 100.
Note that when an engineer performs CPT's in an area that will
later be excavated or filled, or subject to an increase or decrease in
groundwater level, qc will then change. Dahlberg (1974) did formal
research on this subject. Excavation and/or an increase in GWL will
decrease qc' while fill and/or a decrease in GWL will increase qc at the
same elevations. Assuming normally consolidated initial conditions, any
increase in a ~ will produce an approximately proportional increase in
qc. For conditions other than NC for geologic, compaction, or other
reasons, qc will change at a rate less than proportional to changes in
a ~ . See 1.3, eq. 2, and Table 7 (in Section 6.2.1) for further discussion
of OC effects.
66
.......
o
60 50
Pre-crushinll region
./
./
/
/,
o / Reference Cone
/ e
R
:::::95%
/
/
/
/
'/ Post-crushing region
10
U.F. Chamber tests
Normallv consolidated samples
u
c-
u.i
(J
2

CI)
Cii
UJ
a:
UJ
2
o
(J

o 20 30 40
VERTICAL STRESS, a (psi)
Fig. 8. Cone Resistance vs Vertical Stress. Edgar Sand. Model A Fugro Penetrometer
FIGURE 1-1 - IMPORTANCE OF VERTICAL EFFECTIVE STRESS TO qc
(data from Holden, 1971, Fig. from Veismanis, 1974)

(K::J
3
2
1.5 2.5 3
Legend

UF, Begem., field

UF, Begem., chamber
. UF, Fugro, chamber
+CRB (Australia)
Fugro-shape tip
chamber
FIGURE 1-2 - NORMALIZED COMPARISONS UF FiELD AND UF AND CRB
CHAMBER TESTS, COMPARING qc WITH ALL VARIABLES
EXCEPT EFFECTIVE HORIZONTAL STRESS HELD
CONSTANT (also see Schmertmann (1972))
67
1.3 Effects of Varying Radial Effective Stress as Constant
Vertical Effective Stress
The net result of the passage of the cone penetrometer on an axial
soil element is a radial expansion of the element to the radius of the
penetrometer tip. One should therefore expect the in situ radial effec-
tive stress, or', to have a significant effect on qc' Chamber tests
show dramatically that or' after 1 cycle of K
o
overconsolidation has a
greater effect than 0v' on the magnitude of qc' Figure 11-2 illustrates
this via a normalized plot (Schmertmann, 1972 and 1974), as noted in the
next paragraph.
The available evidence in Figure 1-2 suggests that the Fugro tip
(cylindrical shape) has its qc controlled primarily by or', while the
octahedral normal stress, o'oct, in which the radial stress has twice
the influence of the vertical stress, more closely controls qc when
using the Begemann tip -- and probably also the mantle tip.
The available chamber-test evidence also suggests that the ratio
of tip-sleeve friction to end bearing, fs/qc, herein termed the "friction
ratio" and designated Rf, is also controlled primarily by the in situ
radial stress.
The above shows very clearly the great importance of in situ
radial stress, and therefore overconsolidation ratio (OCR) and a soil's
geologic history, to any interpretation of static cone sounding data.
Unfortunately, we have usually only quantitatively rough data concerning
geologic history and the techniques for measuring in situ radial stress
are just corning out of the research stage for cohesive soils (Massarsch,
1975) and remain unavailable for cohesionless soils. Note that or'
need not be equal in all horizontal directions.
We do know that excavation will produce an OC state in underlying
soils and perhaps greatly reduce or' in horizontally adjacent soils.
Even an open borehole, if closer than about 10 (reduced from value
of 20 noted in ASTM D-3441 due to recent research) hole diameters,
may significantly reduce or'. Both static and vibratory roller compac-
tion or the use of compaction piles, or even ordinary displacement piles,
can greatly increase or'. Vibroflotation can also increase or', but
sometimes, especially in the case of fine sands and using a fine sand
vibroflot backfill, appears to decrease or'. The engineer must consider,
at least qualitatively, such effects when evaluating the results of
CPT's for design.
1.4 Compressibility: Density, Cementation, Large Particles
As noted in 1.1, a soil's compressibility can significantly in-
fluence qc' Because the advancing cone must either displace or densify
the particle packing, the more compressible the soil the easier this dis-
placement and/or densification and the lower qc' Note that crushing the
grains of a sand may significantly increase its compressibility.
68
Obviously, as is well known, the more dense the particle packing,
expressed as a higher dry density or higher relative density or lower
water content or lower porosity, the higher qc because of the inter-
related variables of reduced compressibility and greater strength.
Note that because they affect qc in similar ways, the engineer in the
field usually cannot distinguish between effective stress and density
effects when attempting to evaluate the reasons for different qc in
the same soil.
Cementation between particles, always a possibility in situ and
the more likely the older a soil, also reduces compressibility and
thereby increase qc. Sometimes, if available, undisturbed samples will
show the engineer he is dealing with cemented soil. However, signifi-
cant cementing in sands, sensitive clays, etc. may be destroyed by
ordinary sampling methods and the higher qc may then be incorrectly
attributed to other factors, such as stress or density.
When the particle size of the soil penetrated becomes a signifi-
cant fraction of the cone diameter, then qc can increase abruptly
because of decreased compressibility due to having to displace these
particles as rigid units. Research is scarce on this subject but it
appears that this effect is not significant in medium and finer sands
with cone tips of the sizes considered herein. However, gravelly sands
tend to produce sharp peaks in the qc profile when encountering the
gravel. Static soundings often reach refusal when attempting to pene-
trate gravel layers. Intersecting very large particles unusually
abruptly stops a sounding. Brushing against them can deflect and per-
manently bend a tip.
Review Section 1.4 for other comments on limits to CPT penetration.
1.5 Shape of the Penetrometer Tip
The shape of the tip can have an important influence on sounding
data. See Appendix II for the details of tip shapes. A cylindrical
tip of the Fugro type provides no partial relief of the volume displace-
ment forced by the downward movement of the cone. On the other hand,
mechanical tip designs of the Delft mantle and Begemann types do allow
displacement relief because of their reduced diameter immediately above
the cone. In all but the loosest soils such displacement relief also
means effective stress relief and therefore a reduction in qc. The
mechanical tips have a mantle above the cone, which moves with the cone.
Soil friction along this mantle registers as part of the cone bearing
and tends to increase qc.
Of particular importance in evaluating shape effects is the ratio
of qc and/or Rf between data obtained with the mechanical tips and data
obtained with the Fugro-type electrical tips. The available evidence
suggest that in very weak sands and also in normally consolidated clays
the mechanical tip will produce higher cone bearing values (due tomantle
friction) but that in dense sands the mechanical tips yield significantly
69
lower values of cone bearing due to stress relief. Figure I-3(a)
illustrates this effect for two extremes in tip shape at one field
site in dense sand, with all variables held constant except shape.
Figure I-4 summarizes the data available to the writer to date con-
cerning the ratio between qc for the mechanical tip and qc for the
Fugro tip, primarily for sands. The writer indicates a trend line
through these data. However, we need more data to more accurately
define this trend. At present the available data do not clearly show,
even qualitatively, the effects of possibly significant variables such
as depth, in situ stress conditions, soil gradation, and penetration
pore pressure effects (see I-7). It may prove very difficult to
separate the interrelated effects of shape and pore pressure. Note
that Figure I-4 includes only a few comparisons in cohesive soils.
Note that the Delft Soil Mechanics Laboratory, which developed
the Dutch cone test, now uses an electric tip with a reduced shaft
diameter immediately above the base of the cone point. They argue
that this tip produces data that matches better in sands the data
obtained from the older Delft mechanical tips (Heijnen, 1973, 1974).
However, others (Joustra, 1974) have produced data indicating the
Fugro-type cylindrical tip at least sometimes produces better match-
ing data. Holden (1974) argued for the cylindrical shape. Section
3.2.1. of D-344l (Appendix II) precludes the use of the Delft electric
tip in favor of the cylindrical.
I.6 Method of Penetration
Engineers using electrical tips of the Fugro type usually advance
them at a constant penetration speed of about 2 cm/sec. They advance
mechanical tips in a discontinuous manner with alternate downward move-
ment of both tip and push rod followed by an advance of the tip only.
This results in a difference in overhead push rod friction on soil at
the time of the qc and f
s
measurements. With continuous penetration
push rod friction acts in a downward direction and should usually in-
crease effective stresses. With the discontinuous operation there is
no downward friction and there may even be a residual upward friction.
Some theoretical studies and experimental work at the University of
Florida and elsewhere suggests that a continuous penetration in dry
sands or sands without significant pore pressure buildup results in a
qc increase of only about 0 to 10% compared to discontinuous penetra-
tion. At low Dr continuous penetration results in a slight decrease
in qc'
As one field research example, compare in Figure I-3(b) the qc
values shown by the "z" profile points when only the cone point of the
cylindrical, mechanical tip moved, with those from the "X" profile
(dashed line) when both cone and overhead rods moved simultaneously.
Both " Z" and "x" are from the same sounding, with "X" obtained only
about 2 cm below each "z" -- enough to generate full overhead rod
friction but not full pore pressure. The essentially equal "x" and
"Z" qc values suggest, in this case, a near-zero overhead rod friction
effect during simultaneous penetration.
70
o 100
qc in kg/cm
2
200 300
Cylindrical
tip (Fugro
shape), but
mechanical
(e)
Delft
mantle tip
(mantle
removed)
(D)
Difference believed due
only to different shapes
above cone
I
/ (Average of 3)
r- Cylindrical tip (FUGHO's)
I
advanced 20 cm increment
point only advanced forr-eading
"
"

.........
order of
5 4 3 2 1 -soundings

Plan of Soundings
(Al!erage of 2)
Delft
mantle
tip with
mantle
removed
5
6
7
II>
...
Cl>
...
Cl>
E
8
c:

...
Co
Cl>
"'C
9
10
11
(a) Effect of using different tip shapes at right in a saturated, dense sand
(c) - Comparison of q - profiles from 2 sets of soundings
- c --
in dense sand showing decrease in qc with interruption of
the continuous penetration using C tip (soundings alternate
0.6 m apart on a line)
7 7
........_--_.........__........- .........---_.........
qc in kg/cm
2
100 200 300
4 4
Slightly
Clayey Sa;ld
E 5
100 cm movement
5
c:
..c:
20 cm movement.;;;:;r
(ave. of 2)
Q.
c3 6
(ave. of 2) 6
qc in kg/cm
2
0 100 200 300
5
Moving
point only
after each ,P

E
6
20 -em advance
6
.:
"z"
20cm,
..c:

rods moving
... with point
Co
7 7
.,
ea. 20 cm 0..
C
advance ,rods 0
moving with point
8
"x"
8
(b) Example from a single sounding in dense
sand below the water table showing increase in
qc with increasing penetration along the same
sounding stroke using C tip
FIGURE 1-3 - SOME RESULTS FROM FIELD RESEARCH AT UI\J1V. OF FLORIDA
IN A SLIGHTLY SILTY, FINE QUARTZ SAND (SP), BELOW WATER
TABLE (AT 2.1 m DEPTH) ILLUSTRATING EFFECT OF TIP SHAPE,
PORE PRESSURES AND CONTINUOUS ADVANCE
71
estimated as due to continuous
vs. incremental tip advance
<:>
."
"-
... G-_
. . . - - _ _ trend line
~ &. 0 ---------
'\>
2.0
\!)
\
+
\
X
1.5
\
..
@)
\X

~
1.0
u
C"
..:
....
u
~
CIJ
o
...
01
~
u..
l."
C"
-
CIJ
E
...
-
Qj
C

0.5 L.- ....... ---' ..J- .......L ---'

o 50 100 150 200 250
mech qc in kgf/cm
2
Legend: <:> Fugro tests, below WT (Joustra, 1974)
G Delft tests, below WT (Heijnen, 1973)
.&. Kok (1974), below WT
U.F., field below WT
+ U.F., field, below WT, sandy clay
U.F., field, above WT
.. U.F., chamber, dry uniform med. sand
@) Ft. Pierce, Fla., silty sand below WT
X Raleigh, NC, above WT, residual silt
Raleigh, NC, below WT, residual silt
All points represent averages of a layer at least 1.0 m thickness
FIGURE 1-4 - COMPARISONS BETWEEN qc OBTAINED WITH DELFT
MECHANICAL AND FUGRO ELECTRIC STATIC CONE TIPS
72
Considering the variability of natural sands and the many possi-
bilities for measurement errors, this systematic error of 0 to 10% seems
negligible and the writer suggests disregarding it at present. Figure
1-4 includes an estimate of this continuous versus incremental penetra-
tion effect.
Some research in the University of Florida chamber indicates that
the sleeve friction, f
s
' depends greatly on the magnitude and direction
of overhead pushrod friction. Downward friction increases f
s
' Because
of the continuous penetration this effect must be more carefully con-
trolled and standardized (with respect to the diameter, roughness, and
projections from the pushrods) with the operation of the Fugro tips.
The rate of penetration may be of some importance. In sands. the
rate effect is usually minor and negligible over the ordinary range of
tip advance rates. Even fine sands ordinarily generate only minor pore
pressures, in relation to total stress magnitude, during CPT penetra-
tion. However, one important exception involves saturated, very loose,
cohesionless deposits. They can liquefy, or almost liquefy, during
penetration at ordinary rates and produce greatly reduced cone bearing
resistance, qc'
In clay there is approximately a 5 to 10% increase in qc or f
s
resistance with every 10-fold increase in the rate of penetration.
However, in the mixed soils with permeabilities between clay and sand
there may also be a significant rate effect due to water pressure
generation. The more rapid the rate the less time for positive (or
negative) water pressure dissipation, the lower (or higher) the effec-
tive stresses, and the lower (or higher) qc'
In general use the 1-2 cm/s rate of penetration required by D-344l.
\{henever rate of penetration effects are in question, including pore
pressure effects, use at least two rates of penetration -- the standard
1-2 cm/sec and 1/10 of this. This should demonstrate the importance
of rate in soils with k > 10-
5
cm/sec, and may lead to slower rates of
penetration than the standard for some soils for some
1-7 Pore Pressure Effects
The permeability, compressibility, saturation and dilatencybehavior
of the soil penetrated, the method of penetration, and the shape of the
penetrometer tip control the excess hydrostatic pore pressures developed
in the immediate vicinity of the penetrometer tip during its advance.
Water pressures govern effective stresses and, as has been shown in
Figures 1-1 and 1-2, therefore have an important influence on qc and
f
s
measured.
73
We do know that soils with +dilatency (expanding structure)
will decrease water pressure when subjected to shear strain. In the
same way soils with -dilatency (contracting structure) will increase
water pressure with the application of shear strain. We usually asso-
ciated positive dilatency with dense or strong soils and negative
dilatency with loose and weak soils. Thus, soil dilatency and the
consequent water pressure effects make weak soils appear weaker and
strong soils appear stronger in the CPT than their strengths when fully
drained.
However, with higher confining pressure the tendency for +dilatency
decreases in all particulate materials. At very high confining pressures
lab triaxial tests show only -dilatency. Wissa and Ladd (1965) demon-
strated that some quartz sands still showed +dilatency at confining
pressures of over 70 kg/cm
2
, even after grain crushing begins. See
Schmertmann (1974 b, pp. 147) for a digest of their data. At present
we do not know the a ~ and qc limits for possible +dilatency, and there-
fore possible - ~ u . The present data indicate - ~ u effects may be very
important in dense soils with k < 10-
4
cm/s, and that the effect might
be more important under high hydrostatic water pressures (as offshore)
because greater - ~ u can develop before cavitation occurs.
The mechanical tips with their reduction in diameter above the
cone, plus their incremental operation, allow space and time for more
water pressure dissipation relative to the continuously advance cylin-
drical Fugro tip. Therefore, the Fugro tips will produce higher peaks
and lower valleys in the cone bearing and friction profiles than the
mechanical tips. This will occur in addition to the similar effect
produced by continuous electrical cone profiles compared to the in-
cremental mechanical profiles.
At present not much is know about pore pressure effects on qc
and f
s
in the field. The great dependence of qc of radial effective
stress suggests pore pressure effects may be very significant. Figures
I-3(b) and I-3(c) present cone bearing profiles which seem to illustrate
negative pore pressure effects in a dense fine sand below the water
table using a mechanical cylindrical tip simulating the Fugro design.
For both the I-3(c) and I-3(b) comparisons all other variables
except time, and presumably pore pressure, were held constant, as
follows: Figure I-3(c) illustrates the significant increase (ave. 25%
in slightly clayey sand and 8% in clean sand) in qc when advancing the
cylindrical tip continuously in 100 cm increments and stopping only to
add another push rod, compared to also stopping every 20 cm to take a
point-movement-only reading. Both qc readings were taken during
simultaneous cone-rod advance. The continuous 100 cm advance allowed
less time for negative pore pressure dissipation, thus maintaining
higher effective stresses and thus producing greater qc' Comparing the
"x" and "y" qc profiles in Figure I-3(b) shows that after a stop the
negative pore pressures generated during the subsequent 2 to 20 cm
increment of simultaneous cone-rod movement increased qc an average of
74
about 8%. Thus, Fugro-type testing with 100 cm increments of continuous
advance would produce, in this case, at least an 8+8 = 16% increase in
qc in the clean sand compared to when pore pressure = O. Similar
ratios suggest at least a 30% increase for the slightly clayey sands.
On the other hand, Figure 1-5 presents an example to show how
positive pore pressure generated during tip penetration can decrease
qc -- in this case, to an estimated 40% of the fully drained qc' This
Florida organic clayey sand had a sensitive structure and a low enough
permeability to generate significant excess hydrostatic pore pressure
due to tip displacement. But, its permeability was also high enough
for significant pore pressure dissipation during reduced rates of
penetration. Part (a) of this figure presents the qc profiles at the
ordinary rate of advance for a mechanical tip and at two slower rates
as described in the accompanying table (d). Part (b) shows the
excess hydrostatic pore pressure decay in this layer as measured with
an electric (Geonor, vibrating wire, 3.1 cm diam) piezometer advanced
as an ordinary cone sounding and then stopped at time = O. Note that
even with k as high as 10-
5
cm/sec this decay takes at least 1 h o u r ~
Part (c) documents the relative positions of the five soundings in-
volved here. Part (e) lists average soil layer properties as deter-
mined from laboratory tests on 2 inch diameter, fixed-piston, undisturbed
samples.
A paper by Wissa ~ a1. (1975) describes a piezometer probe
designed like a cone penetrometer tip, but with a 20 degree point
angle and a small, cylindrical water pressure sensing element pro-
jecting from the point of this tip. These authors describe finding
both + and - ~ u during penetration into a variety of soils, with extremes
of +19 m excess water pressure in a soft, sandy clay and -14 m water
in a dense silty sand. A discussion by Tortensson (1975) presents
similar, but independent results from concurrent research in Sweden.
A recent paper by the writer (Schmertmann, 1974) presents evidence that
suggests both + and - excess hydrostatic pore pressure can exist simul-
taneously at different locations around an advancing cone penetrometer
tip.
These examples indicate that pore pressure effects may have great
significance in the engineering interpretation of data, and parti-
cularly when attempting to compare data obtained with tips that generate
significantly different pore pressure response.
The reader should expect penetration-generated pore pressures and
tip shape and method of tip advance to be interrelated in a complicated
way -- depending on, at least, soil di1atency and permeability, rate
and manner of penetration, and in situ stress conditions. See Appendix
III, section 3.34, for some additional discussion of pore pressure
effects.
75
60 10 20 30 40 50
Time after stopping, min.
..4
o
(b) - Rise and decay of excess hydrostatic
pore water pressure after stopping
penetration of a conepiezometer in
sensitive, organic clayey sand
+1.0
...
ClJ
....
.8 <0
:5:
E
.6
.S

en
'"
.4
.....
ClJ
...
0-
.. ...."'1t
ClJ
...
.2
0
0-
'"
'" ClJ
0
tJ
X
w
.2
.8
.8
.6
.2
.4
.6
.2
.4
4.0
5.0
Begemann mechanical qc in kg/em'
o 5 10 15
.6
(a) - Effect of reducing rate of penetration in a
sensitive organic clayey sand (plan Fig. 8)
'"
...
QJ
....
ClJ
E
c::
f:l E
-t c!
::J N
'" Q)
-g ::c
::J .:3
o ...
C, S
:5: '"
o..!
'Qi
.0
..c::
....
0-
ClJ
Cl
(d)
Fig. (a) Penetration Rate Procedures
Symbol
0 0 V
Pushrod penetr.
5 5 5
(em/sec)
Wait (sec) 5-10 60-90 5-10
Cone penetr. for 12 1/8 ave. 1/100
qe (em/sec) 11530 sec for
ea.::>'< canst.
..1qe step to qe
Total time per
10 90
I
360
qc .. eterm. (sec)
(cl - Plan of soundings and cone
piezometer tests in sensitive,
organic clayey sand, with
order of penetration
(el Average soil layer properties
-#40 sieve =85% with LL =37%, PL =18%
- #200 sieve =20%, -2 microns =3%
organic =6%, carbonates (mostly shells) =26%
OCR = 2.0, K
o
= 0.50
k =10.
5
cm/sec, pp paramo 8 =0.85 (S =97%), At =1.4
S =15+ s /p' =0 34 A,' =38 c' =0
t ' u . I'f' '
w= 35%
FIGURE 1-5 - EXAMPLE FROM ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA, OF RATE OF PENETRATION
AND PORE PRESSURE DISSIPATION EFFECTS ON qc IN A SENSITIVE,
ORGANIC CLAYEY SAND WITH k =10-
5
cm/s
76
1.8 Layering and Tip Diameter Effects
Ifhen interpreting CPT data one must consider the effects when
the penetrometer passes through the boundaries between soil layers.
Figure I-6(a) shows a sequence of qc readings when a Fugro-type
penetrometer passed from a lower to a higher relative density layer
of the same sand. Figure I-6(b) illustrates the reverse. Holden
(1971) obtained similar data with a Fugro electric cone advanced
continuously. Note that the cone tip required between 5 and 10 cone
base diameters to sense the interface and then another 5 to 10 to
pass completely through it. The total effect of the interface, in
these cases, involves qc through about 15 diameters of depth. Thus,
the smaller the cone diameter the thinner the layer that can be fully
measured. For the 10 cm
2
cone this thinnest layer in sand equals
about 15 diameters, or about 50 cm or 20 in. Also, the smaller the
cone diameter the more sensitive the tip to local variations with depth.
Larger diameter tips, including piles, tend to average the effects of
all layers with a bias toward developing failure zones in the weaker
layers. Note that the pile driving record often shows that a pile,
during driving, senses an underlying layer, particularly if weak,
at a greater vertical distance than when subsequently loaded statically.
The Figure 1-6 data were obtained from dry sand under laboratory con-
ditions. Undrained bearing theory predicts that the complete qc
transition will occur ~ o r e rapidly (2 to 4 diameters) in clays.
Note that the above 15 diameters for sands represents the minimum
layer thickness needed to reach full qc within that layer. However, a
cone penetrometer tip, especially if advanced with continuous recording,
will sense much thinner layers -- but not fully. The greater the dif-
ference in strength and compressibility between the layer to be sensed
and its adjacent soil, the thinner the layer that one can detect in the
qc profile. The writer knows of no extensive research on this subject.
But, experienced engineers believe they can detect isolated sand layers
as thin as 1 cm in clay when using electric tips and continuous re-
cording.
It sometimes becomes desirable to increase penetration capability
by using tips of the same shape but of smaller size, or to increase
tip size to increase sensitivity or to increase structural strength
and allow supplementary dynamic driving of the penetrometer. The avail-
able field and chamber test evidence indicates that cones with end areas
from 5 to 20, and perhaps even to 40 cm
2
, produce about the same CPT
data as the standard 10 cm
2
cone in all soils. As explained above,
decreasing the cone diameter will increase layer detection sensitivity
and increasing the diameter will decrease this sensitivity.
77
K
o
NC to 15.00 psi at bottom, then tested with reference tip in 1" depth increments. Penetration rate
= 0.65 in/min. End bearing transducer chart recorded after 1 min penetration and plotted below at
corresponding depth. Point always collapsed to original length.
o 20 40 60 80 100 120 qc* corrected
O......
Ikg/cm
2
)
r
c
.
55
%
Or c. 100%
a
y
= 13.88 psi
t
qc * expected
from previous test data
2 density states
boundary between

2:l
'"
",.",
.- "C
"Cl::
'"

'" E
l:: 0
0 ...
<J_
Test No. 76
o
---+---.;r k------------1QJ l::
a
y
=12.86 psi
--............--+--------------5QJ

---l1-r':"1.-------------3QJ

q/ expected
from previous test data
!
----
- ... ::::- -_ +1
...... ......
" ............ +2 QJ----------{ }-----l
" "'-
'"",+3
, "
+4
+5 QJ------------""""l.)i
+6 QJ--------------lIof-
+71/J
, " I
40 60 80 100 120
)/," g, 30 pt., hand cone readings, Ibs, @ end of
test with Iid off
,
20
above hand cone penetrometer readings, along 5 Iines=9 in from
ref. tip sounding and spaced around circumference, confirm that
density transition at previously estimated 20 in depth. Estimate
actual at c. 19.7".
\
\\
5 \ \
,
\\
\\
\\
\\
\\
\\
\\
\\
\ \
\\
\ \
\ \
\ \
\ \
\ \
\ '-
35
25
30
10
'"
'"
.c:
<J
.S
....
o 20
l::
.g
'v;
o
c.
.z
"5-
'" Cl
...
'"
.D
E
'"
.tj 15
.9
l::
11
'"
l::
8
FIGURE 1-6 (a) - PENETRATION OF FIG. 5
FUGRO-TYPE TIP THRU LOOSETO-DENSE
SAND BOUNDARY (qc during cone advance only)
Note: In view of expected reasonableness of the
qc * results, separate dry unit wts. not
obtained after test. Sand not weighed.
78
Same conditions as for test No. 76, but layers reversed
o 20 40 60 80 100 qc* corrected (kg/cm
2
)
0r-------r------....,.----....,.-----,-----""T"""--:...------
5
Dr c. 100%
t
Dr c. 55%
E
0
...
'"
'+-
....
"'C
"'C
'" to Q.l "'C
Q.l
.....
....
II> ....
(J
(J
.... Q.l
::l
Q.l II>
Co .Q
Co ClJ
x
.... x
>
E ~ or
* 0
*0 Q.
o ...
0"
0" '+-
2 density states
boundary between

~ " ~ - - - - - +1 I/>
-+-------- +2 I/>
-..p:.;......------- +3 I/>
. . . . . - ~ - - - - - - - - - +4 I/>
~ ' _ J _ - - - - - - - - - +5 I/>
--F----------+6 I/>
probably influenced by
bottom of chamber -'":I!=:;(:'j!----------- +7 I/>
30
>
...
'" "'C
10
c:
::l
0
-7 I/>
II>
.0
Q.l
E
0
0
-61/>
c:
...
'+-
.... ~
Q.l
Q.l
-51/> .0
....
Q.l
E
E
'"
. ~
-4 I/>
15 0 "'C
0
Q.l
....
II>
c:
'" -31/>
.0
.... Q.l
.S
c:
0
0
-21/>
Co
(J
Q.l
'+-
c:
0
0
ci -1 I/>
(J
z
'+-
0 20
c:
0
.;;
'in
0
Co
~
....
Co
Q.l
c
25
35
"'C tCC ~
,fl ..... '"
(J ...."'C
Q.l 11>'
Co Q.l >
X .... Q.l
Q.l E 0..
* 0 "'C
o ... c:
0" '+- '"
Note: layer dry densities
not determined
FIGURE 16 (b) - PENETRATION OF FIG. 5
FUGRO-TYPE TIP THRU
DENSE-TO-LOOSE
SAND BOUNDARY
(qc during cone advance only)
79
APPENDIX II
COPY OF TEXT OF AS!}! STANDARD FOR THE CPT
(Found in Part 19 )
(Reprinted with permission)
80
DesIgnation: D 3441 - 75 T
Tentative Method for
DEEP, QUASISTATIC, CONE AND FRICTIONCONE
PENETRATION TESTS OF SOIL)
Tllis Tentali .. Method has been appro'ed by the commillee and accepted by the Sociely in accO. ence with
established .,rocedures, for u;o adoplion as standard Suggestions ror revisions should be addres';ed 10 tlle
Soclelyat 1916 Race SI . Phlladclph,a. fa 19103
1. Scope
1.1 method the determi:lation
of end bearing and side friction. the compo-
of penetration resistance which are de-
veloped during the steady slo"" penetration of
a pointed rod into soii. This method supplIes
data on the engineering properties of soil in-
tended to help with the design and construc-
tion of earth"" orks and foundations for struc-
tures. This method is sometimes referred to
as the "Dutch Cone Test."
1.2 This method includes the use of t:-oih
cone and friction-cone penetrometers. of
both the mechanical and electric types.
NOTE I-This method does not include h\-
draulic penetrometers, Such penetrometers use'a
hydraulic system 10 otend the penetrometer tip. or
t9 transmit the penetration resistance(s) from the
Up to the unit. or both. HOVvever.
many of the requirements herein could also apply
to hydraulic penetrometers.
1.3 Mechanical penetrometers of the type
described in this method operate incremc:n-
tally. using a telescoping penetrometer tip.
resulting in no mo\ement of the push rods
during the measurement of the resistance
components. Design constraints for mechani-
cal penetrometers preclude a complete sepa-
ration of the end-bearing and side-friction
components. Electric penetrometers are ad-
vanced continuously and permit
measurement of both components. Differ-
ences in share method ot' advance be-
tween cone penetrometer tips may result in
significant differences in one or both resist-
ance components.
2. Definitions
2.1 cone penerromelcr-an instrument in
the form of a cYlindrical rod with a conical
point designed for penetrating soil and soft
and for measuring the end-bearing com-
ponent of penetration resistance.
2.2 friction-cone penetrometer-a cone
penetromeier with the additional c3.pability
of measuring the local side friction comoo-
nent of penetration resistance. .
2.3 mechanicci penetrometcr-a pene-
trometer that uses a set of inner rods to oper-
ate a telescoping penetrometer tip and to
transmit the component(s) of penetration re-
sistance to thc surface for measurement.
2.4 electric penetrometer-a penetrome-
ter that uses electric-force transducers built
intO a nontelescoplng penetrometer tip for
measuring. within the tip. the c0mponent(s)
of penetration resistance.
2.5 penetrometer tip-the end section of
the penetrometer. "" hich comprises the active
"elements that sense the soil resist2.l'lce. the
cone. and in the case of the friction-cone
penetrometer. the friction slee\'e.
2.6 cone-the cone-shaped point of thl:
penetrometer tip. upon which the end-bc:ar-
ing resistance develops.
2.7 friction sec lion of the pene
trometer tip upon ",,hich the local side-fric-
tion resistance develops.
2.8 push rod.s --the thick-walled tubes. or
other suitable rods. used for advancing the
pene1rometer tip to the required test depth.
I ThiS method is undcr tlle jurisdiction o! ASTM Com
millee 0-18. on Soil and R'''k ror Pur;-oses.
and IS Ihe direct of Subcommltlee 0180: on
Samphng and ReI.l,d Field for Soil (nHsuga-
\Ions.
C'uITCnt ednion approved Aug. 19'5. Published
December 1975.
435
81
2.9 inner rods-rods thai slide inside the
push rods to extend the tip of a mechanical
penetrometer.
2.10 cone resistance or e'ld-bearinR resist-
af)ce. qr-the resistance to penetration devel-
oped by the cone. equ:J.! to [he vertical force
applied to the cone divided by its horizontally
projected area.
2.11 friction re sistunce, f,-the resistance
to penetration developed by the frictien
sleeve. equal to the .. ertical force applied 10
the slee\'e divided by its surface area. This
resistance consists of the sum of friction and
adhesion.
2.12 friction ratio, R..--the ratio of friction
resistance to cone resistance.f,lqr. expressed
in percent.
2.13 cone sou'ldinR--the entire series of
penetration tests performed at one location
when using a cone penetrometer.
2.14 friction-cone soundlnf:-the se-
ries penetration tests performed at one
location ..... hen using a friction-cone penetro-
meter.
3. Apparatus
3.1 General:
3.1.1 Cone -The cone shall have a 60-deg
(=5-deg) p0int angle and a base diameter of
1.406 = 0.016 in. (35.7 = 0.4 mm), resultmg
in a projected area of 1.55 in.
2
(10 cm
2
).
NOTE 2-ln sof: soils. the total soil-resistance
for(;e on the (;one may be insufficient 10 suppor! the
ac(;umu!ated .... eight of the (;one and Inner rods of
the mechanical penetrometer, In this (;ase. tips
with a larger proje(;led arta may be used if their
geometry remains similar to thai for the 1.55 In.'
(10 cm') tip.
3.1.2 Friction Sleeve. having the same out-
side diameter +0.024 to -0.000 in. (+0.5 to
-0.0 mm) as the base diameter of the cone
(sec 3.1.1). l"o other pan ufthe penetrometer
tip shall project outside the sleeve diameter.
The surface area of sleeve shall be 15.5 or
23.2 in.
2
(100 or 150 cm
2
) =2 C7c.
3.1.3 Stee/-The Wole and friction sleeve
shall be made from steel of a type and hard-
ness suitable to resist wear due to abrasion by
soil. The friction sleeve sh?11 ha.. e and main-
tain with use a roughness of 20 !-Lin. (0.5 !-Lm)
AA. =50 7C.
3.1.4 Push Rods-Made of suitable steel.
these rods must have a section adequate to
03441
sustain. without buckling. the thrust required
to advance the penetrometer tip, They mUst
have an outside diameter not greater than the
diameter of the base of the cone for a length
of at least 1.3 ft (0.4 m) above the base. or. in
the case of the friction-cone penetrometer. at
least 1.0 ft (0.3 m) above the top of the fric
tion sleeve. Each push rod must have the
same. constant inside diameter. They must
or attach together to bear against each
other and form a string of rods
with a continuous. straight axis.
3.1.5 Inner Rods- Mechanical penetrome-
lers require a separate set of steel. or other
metal alloy. inner rods within the steel push
rods. The inner rods must have a constant
outside diameter ..... ith a roughness. excluding
waviness. less than JO !-Lin. (0.25 !-Lm) AA.
They must have the same length as the push
rods (=0.004 in. or =0.1 mm) and a cross
section adequate to transmit the cone resist-
ance buckling or other da mage. Clear-
ance betwee;J inner rods and push rods shad
be bet ween 0.020 and 0.040 in. (0.5 and 1.0
mm). See 5.8.1.
3.1.6 Afeasurement Accuracy-Maintain
the thrust-measuring instrumentation to ob-
tain thrust measurements within =5 o/r of the
correct values.
3.2 Mechanical Penetrometers:
3.2. I The sliding rr.echanism necessary in
a mechanical penetrometer tip must allo.... a
down .... ard movement of the cone in relation
to the push rods of at least 1.2 in. (30.5 mm).
NOTE ..I.,t cenain combinations of depth and
tip rcsistance(s). the elastic compression of the
inner rods mav exceed the do... n.... ard stroke that
the thrust can apply to the inner rods
relative to the push rods. In Ihis case. the up .... ill
not extend and the thrust readings ...... ill rise elasti
cally' to [he end of the m:.,;hlne stroke and then
jump abruptl) .... hen the thrust machine ma"e5 con
tact .... ilh the push rods.
3.2.,2 Mechanical penetrometer tip design
shall include protection against soil entering
the sliding mechanism and affecting the
ance component(s) (see 3.2.3 and 4).
3.2.3 Cone Penetrometer-Figure I shows
the design and action of one mechanical cone
penetrometer tip. A mantle of reduced diame-
ler is attached above the cone to minimize
possible soil contamination of the sliding
mechanism.
436
82
NOTE 4-An unknown amount of side friction
may develop along this mantle and be included in
the cone resistance.
3.2.4 FrictionCone Penelromerer-Fig
ure 2 sho....s the design and action of one
telescoping mechanical fnction-cone pene-
trometer tip. The lower part of the tip. in-
cluding a mantle to which the cone attaches.
advances first until the flange engages the
friction sleeve and then both advance.
NOTE 5-The shoulder at the lo"'er end of the
friction sleeve encounlers endbearing resistance.
In sands as much as t",o thirds of the sleeve resist
ance may consisl of bearing on this shoulder. Ig-
nore this eITect in soft to medium clays.
3.2.5 Measuring Equipmenl-Measure
the penetration resistance(s) at the surface by
a suitable device such as a hydraulic or elec-
tric load cell or proving ring.
3.3 Eleclric Penetrometers:
3.3. I Cone Penetrometer-Figure 3 shows
one design for an electric-cone penetrometer
tip. The cone resistance is measured by
means of a force transducer attached to the
cone. An electric cable or other suitable sys-
tem transmits the transducer signals to a data
recording system. Electric-cone penetrome-
ters shall permit continuous and reo
cording over each push rod-length interval.
3.3.2 Friction-Cone Penetromeler- The
bottom of the friction sleeve shall not be
more than 0.4 in. (10 mm) above the base of
the cone. The same requirements as 3.3. I
apply. Figure 4 shows one design for an elec-
tric friction-cone penetrometer tip.
3.4 Thrust Machine-This machine shall
provide a continuous stroke. preferably over
a distance greater than one push rod length.
The machine must advance the penetrometer
tip at a constant rate while the magnitude of
the thrust required fluctuates (see 4.1.2).
NOTE 6-Deep penetration soundings usuaUy
require a thrust capability ofatleasl 5tons (ol5 kl"l.
Most modern machines use hydraulic pistons "'Ilh
10 to 20-ton (90 to 180k:-';) thrust capability.
3.5 Reaction Equipmenr- The proper per
formance of the stalicthrust machine reo
quires a stable. static reaction.
NOTE 7-The type of reaction may
affect the penetrometer resistance(sl rreasured.
partiCUlarly in the surface or nearsurface layers.
4. Procedure
4.1 General:
03441
4.1.1 Set up the thrust machine for a thrust
direction as near vertical as practical.
4.1.2 Rale of Penetration - a
rate of depth penetration of 2 to 4 ftimin (10 to
20 mrnls) )( when obtaining resistance
data. Other of penetration may be used
between tests.
NOTE 8-The rate of ft/min (10 mm!sl provides
the time the operator needs to read properly the
resisulnce values when U'lng the mechanIcal fnc
o
tion-cone penetrometer. The rale of 4 fl/min
mm/s) is suitable for the single resistance readmg
required when uSing the mechanical CClne pene-
trometer and provides for the effiCient operatIOn of
electric penetrometers.
NOTE 9-The engineer may ",ish to test at re-
duced rates of penetration to p0ssible pore
pressure and other effects on the resistance compo-
nenlfs) ohtained using the stdndard rate.
4.2 Mechanical Penetromelers:
4.2.1 Cone Penetrometl'r-(/) Advance
penetrometer tip to the required test depth by
applying sufficient thrust on the push rods;
and (2) Apply sufficient thrust on the inner
rods to extend the oenetrometer tip (see Fig.
I). Obtain the con'e resistance at a specific
p'oint (see 4.2.3) during the down .... ard move-
ment of the inner rods relative to the station
ary push rods. Rere2t step (/). Apply suffi
cient thrust on the push rods to collapse the
extended tip and advance it to a ne", test
depth. B
I
continually repealrng this two-step
cycle. obtain cone resistan:::e data at i:1cre
ments of depth. This increment shall not ordi
narilv exceed 8 in. (203 mml.
4.2.2 Friction-Cone Penelromeler- Cse
this penetrometer as described in 4.2.1 but
obtain two resistances dunng the step (2)
ex:ension of the tip (see Figs. 2 and 5). First
obtain the cone resistance during the mitial
phase of the extension. When the lower part
of the tip enga'ges and pulls down the friction
sleeve. obtain a second measurement of the
total resistance of the cone plus the sleeve.
Subtraction gives the sleeve resistance.
NOTE IO-Because of soil la)enng. the cone
resistance may change dunng the add':lonal dO"'I>
'" ard movement of Ihe tip required to ob,am the
measurement (see :-';0le 14)
NOTE II-The soil iriclion along the sieeve puts
an additional overburden load on the sail above the
cone and increase cone rt:sislance ai:love that
measured the mitial phase of the lip exten-
sion by an unknown. but probably small amount.
Ignore this effect.
4.2.3 Recording Data-To obtain repro-
437
83
ducihle cone-resistance test data. or cone and
friction-resistance test data II. hen using a fric-
tion-cone tip. record only "those thrust read
ings that occur at a well-defined point during
the downward mo'- ement of the top of lhe
inner rods in relation to the top of the push
roch.' Because of the elaslic compression of
inner rods (see f\ote 3). this point ordanarily
should be at nOl less than 1.0 in. (25 mm)
apparent relative movement of the inner
rods. When using the friction-cone penetrom-
eter, this point shall be Just before the cone
engage s the fricti::>r. sleeve.
NOTE 12-Figure 5 sho.... s O'1e example of ho"'''
the thrust in the hydraulic load cell can vary during
the extensi"n of the fnetloncone tip. l'.ote the
jump in gage pressure .... hen the cone engages Ihe
sleeve.
4.2.3.1 Obtain the cone plus friction-reo
sistance reading as soon as possible afLer the
jump so as lo minimize the error described an
Fig. 5. Unless using continuous recording as
in Fig, 5, the operator should not record a
cone plus friction resistance if he suspects
the cone resistance is changing abruptly or
erratically.
4.3 Electric Penetrometers:
4.3.1 If using continuous electric cable,
prethread it through the push rods.
4.3.2 Record the initial readingls) with the
penetrometer tip hanging freely in air or in
water. out of direct sunlight. and after an
initial, short penetration. tesl hole so that the
tip temperalure is at soil temperature.
4.3.3 Record the cone resistance. or cone
resistance and friction resistance. continu-
ously with depth or note them at intervals of
depth not exceeding 8 in. (203 mm).
4.3.4 At the end of a sounding. obtain a
final set of readings as in 4.3.2 and check
them against the initial set. Discard the sound-
ing, and repair or replace the tip if this check
is not satisfactory for the accuracy desired
for the resistance component(s).
5. Special Techniques and Precautions
5.1 Reduction of Friction Alonf.r Push
Rods-The purpose of this friction reduction
is to increase the renetrometrr depth .::apabir-
ity, and not \0 reduce any differences be-
tween resistance .::omponents determined by
mechanical and electric tips as noted in 1.3.
To accomplish the friction reduction. intro-
438
84
03441
duce a special rod with an diameter
or special called a "friction reo
ducer." in:o the string of push rods or be
tween the push rods ancl, the tip. Another
allowable methCld 10 reduce friction is to use
push rods with a diameter less than that of the
tip.
5.2 Pre\'cntion of Rod BendinR Above Sur-
facc-Use a tubular rod guide. at the base of
the thrust machine. of sufficient length 10
prevent significant bending of the push rods
between the machine and the ground surface.
NOTE 13- Special situations. such as "" hen
working through "'ater. will require a special sys
tern of casing support to restrict adequdtely the
bud.lang of the push rods.
5.3 Drift of Tip-For penetration depths
exceeding about 40 ft (12 m). the tip will
probably drift away from a vertical align-
ment. Occasionally. serious drifting occurs.
even at less depth. Reduce drifting by using
push rods that are initially straight and by
making sure that the initial cone penetration
inlO soil does not involve unll.anted. initial
lateral thrust. Passing through or alongside an
obstruction such as boulders. soil concre-
tions. thin rock layers. or inclined dense lay-
ers may deflect the tip and induce drifting.
Note any indications of encounterir,g such
obstructions and be alert for possible subse-
quenl improper tip operation as a sign of
serious drifting.
NOTE 14-Eleetrie penetrometer tips may also
incorporate an inclinometer to monilor drift and
provide a .... arning .... hen it becomes exceSSive,
5.4 Wear of Tip-Penetration into abra-
sive soils eventually wears down or scours
the penetrometer tip. Discard tips. or parts
thereof. whose wear changes their geometry
or surface roughness so they no longer meet
the requirements of 3.1. Permit minor
scratches.
5.5 Distance Ben"een Cone and Friction
S/eel'e - The friction resistance of the sleeve
applies to the soil at some distance at-eve the
soil in which the cone resistance 'Was ob-
tained at the same time. When comparing
these resistances for the soil at a specified
depth. for example when computing friction
ratios or when plolling these data on graphs.
take proper account of the vertical distance
between the base of the .:one and the mid-
ble jamming occurs.
S.9 Electric Penetrometers:
5.9.1 Water Seal-Provide adequate
waterproofing for the eleclric transducer.
Make periodic checks to assure that no water
has passed the seals.
03441
height of the friction sleeve.
5.6 Interruptions -The engineer may have
to interrupt the normal advance of a static
penelration leSI for purposes such as remov
ing the penelrometer and drilling Ihrough lay
ers or obslruclions 100 strong 10 penetrate
statically. If the penetrometer is designed to
be driven dynamically withoul damage to its 6. Report
subsequent static performance (those illus 6.1 of Cone Resistance. qc-Every
trated herein in Figs. I 10 4 are not so de repon of a cone or fnction-cone sounding
signed), the engineer may drive pa!>t such shall include a graph of the variation of cone
layers or oostructions. Delays of over 10 min resistance (in units oftons/ft
2
or 100 kPa) with
due to personnel or equipment problems shall depth (in feet or metres). Successive cone
be considered an interruplion. Continuing the resistance test values from the mechanical
static penetralion test after an interruption is cone and frictioncone penetrometers, usu
permilled provided Ihis additional testing reo ally determined at equal increments of depth
mains in conformance with this standard. and plolled at the deplh corresponding to the
Obtain further resislance component data depth of the measurement. may be connected
only after the tip passes .through the engi with straight lines as an approximation for a
neer's estimate of the disturbed zone result continuous graph.
ing from the nature and depth of the interrup- 6.2 Friction-Cone Penetromeler:
tion. As an alternative. readings may be 6.2.1 Graph of Friction Resistance. f.-In
continued without firsl making the addilional addition to the graph of cone resistance (6.1)
tip penetration and the disturbed zone evalu the report may include an adjacent or super-
ated from these data. Then disregard data posed graph of friction resislance or friction
within the disturbed zone. - ratio. or both. with depth. Use the same
5.7 Beloli' or Adjacent to Borings-A cone depth scale as in 6.1 (see 5.5).
or friction-cone sounding shall not be per- 6.2.2 Graph of Friction Ratio. R,-If the
formed any closer than 25 boring diameters report includes soil descriptions estimalec
from an existing. unbackfiJled. uncased bor from Ihe frictioncone penetrometer data. in-
ing hole. When performed at the bottom of a elude a graph of the variation of friction ratio
boring. the engineer should estimate the with depth. Place this graph adjacent to the
depth beloy, the boring of the disturbed zone graph for cone resistance. using the same
and disregard penelration test data in this depth scale (see 5.5).
zone. This depth shall be at least three boring 6.3 General-The operator shall record
diameters. his name, the name and localion of the job,
5.8 Mechanical Penetrometers: date of sounding. sounding number. location
5.8.1 Inner Rod Friction-Soil particles coordinates, and soil and water surface eleva
and corrosion can increase the friction be- tions (if available). The report shall also' in
tween inner rods and push rods. possibly elude a note as to the .type of penetrometer tip
resulting in significant errors in the measure used. the type of thrust machine, the method
ment of the resistance component(s). Clean used to provide the reaction force. if a fric-
and lubricate the inner rods. tion reducer was used, the method of tip
5.8.2 of Inner Rods-For im- advancement, the method of recording. the
proved accuracy at low values of cone resist- condition of the rods and tip after with
ance, correct the thrust data to include the drawaI, and any special difficulties or other
accumulated v.eight of the inner rods from observations concerning the performance of
the tip to the topmost rod. the equipment.
5.8.3 Jamming-Soil particles between 6.4 Deviations from Standard-The reo
sliding or bending of the tip may jam port shall state that the lest procedures were
the mechanism during the many extensions in accordance with this Melhod D 3441. De-
and collapses of the telescoping mechanical scribe completely any deviations from this
tip. Stop the sounding as soon as uncorrecla method.
439
85
7. Precision and Accuracy
7.1 Because of the many variables in-
volved and the lack of a superior standard.
engineers have no direct data to determine
the accuracy of this method. Judging from its
reproducibilit y in approxi mately
uniform soil deposits. plus the qr meas-
urement effects of special equipment and op-
COLLAPSED
03441
crator care. persons familiar with this method
estimate its precision as follows:
7.1.1 Mechanical Tips-.Standard devia-
tion of 10.o/c in q rand 20 '7t: in f .
7.1.2 Electric Tips-Standard deviztion of
S % in qr and 10 k inf.
NOTE 15-These data may not match similar
data from mechanical tips (see 1.3).
EXTENDED
nco I [umplf or a MtchaDlcal CODt Peoelromeler lip (Dulcb Melle CODt).
440
86
E
E

IJ
D 3441
r'5 ",m
12.5",'"
r
---,- .... E
orE
II'IE
t-
orE

l
E
e
'"
'"
t
I
E
....
CD
,..,
e
E

N
325",",
357",,,,
COLLAPSED
EXTENDED
nG. 2 Eumple Dr a Mechanical Frlclloo-Cone Peoetrometrr Tip (Beaun811D FrictlooCone).
6
8
4
5 325
975
r
I Conical point (10 cml)
2 Load cell
3 Protective mantle
Waterproof
,
6 Cable
7 Strain llallu
Connection with rods
9 Inclinometer
nG. 3. ElectncCone Penelromeler Tip.
441
87
0 3441
B 4 2
7
I Conical point (10 cm'l
2 load cell
3 Sirain gages
4 Fnction slee_e (ISO cm')
, Adjuslment nng
6 bushing
7 Cable
8 Conneclion with rods
fiG. 4 Eleclrk FrktlooCooe Peoetrometer Tip.
Tt-RUST REMOVED (P I STON REvERSE:
PRE 55uRE JLM' ::1.
TO JF
SLEEVE AND C("J'.-
VERTING STATIC TO
MeV I NG FR I Cll ON STEADY STATE BEFORE SLEEVE
ENGAGED (IN THIS CASE A SLOW-
LY CONE RESISTANCE)
BUILDUP TO EXTEND CONE
I
-:-1
--_---,---L--!---=,"""'........... - STEADY STATE AFTER 9..EE'"E
III PROBAB' LE IN I' EJ'.;GAc.ES> (IN THIS CASE STlc.L
... .., EARLIEST PT. A SLC.... INCREASE C::JNE RE-
Z cor..e RESISTANCE \iiI TH +DPERAT:JR CAN SISTANCE)
; PENETRATION PAST : ::JeTAIN READ-
u!r I POINT "A" _ lI'o<C, I
L_........,j I :
...: .A.
1

NOTE-"o-a" reprnenlS the correct cone resislance reading just before the pressure jump associate'o ",i:h tngaging
lhe friclion slee,<e dunng the continuing do"'n"'ard utension or the tip, '"ab'" 15 Ihe cor:-ect fncllon resislanCt ,f lhe
friclion slec'e could be Instantaneously' and lhe cone plus friclion resistance read Instantaneously HO\loe-er,
lhe operalor cannot read a pressure gage dial un:il it stead.es, such as at POint '"C,'" By ttlls rorced \lolli', the operalor has
inlroduced a fricli"n resillance error or "'b-c," The operator must read the gage as soar. as possible after the Jump 10
minimize IlIis error. Erralic or abl'1Jpl change, in cone res,s:ance may make Ihis error 'Jna;:,;eplable
flG.5 ADDOlated Chan Record oflht Pr",surt Chang... 10 Ibt Load CtU Thrusl on Top ortbt Inntr
Rodl Duriog aD Eumplt Ellendoo or the FriCllon-Cone Penttromtter Tip.
TAt Amtr'call Sac/tly fo' TtlllllS alld MaltrlalJ lahJ 110 pOJilioll "spu/ing voild".l of 0111' par,nl OJurrtd
ill ronnt,:lon .,'itA any iltm m,ni,Ofltd ,,PI 'ltu JUJfI.ia,d L'ft,.S of thu stemda,d ar, txp"tH/y ad... :ud lhal deurm:nar;Of1 of Ihl
.Qlidily :J! all}' paltlll and fISk of JII!"lIgtmtlll of IS tnwtl} 'tsponSlb,l"y,
442
88
APPENDIX III
COPY OF CPT CHAPTER 3 FROX SCHMERTMANN (1975),
INCLUDING LIST OF REFERENCES
(Reprinted with permission)
89
IN SITU SH[AR STRENGTH
3.1 Different Types
The basic idea of the CPr re:nains a sinFle me -- to advance a rod
into the soil, usually vertically, measure {orces required to pro-
duce such advance, and interpret t:1ese forces in terms of pile capacity,
soil densiey, shear strengeh, etc. In response to the variety of prob-
!errs and soil conditions, engineers have developed a great variety of
CPI' equipr.cnt and rrethods. For serre description of this variety see
&nlglerat (1972) and the ESOPT (1974).
Perhaps the simplest W"dy to classify che different rrethods uses
the rrethoes-for and/or rate-oE-tip advance. Table 8 offers a broad
classification of CPT types. For a more detailed discussion see Holden
(1974...). By far the rrost comron are the quasi-static and dynamic rrethods
of penetration. H;k,'ever, one of the key questions I.nich produced
rore or less consensus at the Stockholm ESOn was the broad superiority
TABLE 8 - Gfi-lERAJ. TYPES OF roNE PENETRATlOO TESI'S
Type Tip Advance Notes
l'eehod Rate Used
1. Static D.Jr ing increrl"enes of 0 Research Too for
constant l.oad general field
use
2. Quasi- Hydraulic or mechani- 1-2 wrld\..ride Hsually 10 ar/-
seatic cal jacking
I
an/sec 60 point
3. Dynamic lr.ipact of drive variable werld:..ride Great variety
weight sizes, weights,
etc.
4. QL:asi- Corrbines 2. and 3. , France Uses special
static &using dynamic ...hen Switzerland penee:-orreeer
dynamic Q-CPT cannot pene- tips
trate further
5. Screw Rotaticn of a variable Sweden
weighted. helical Nor..ay
cone
6. Inertial or propelled variable Offshore, Useful for
into soil/rock during Military near-surface
surface measured soils in in-
deacceleration accessible area
go
79
110 IN SITU Ml::ASUIU:MENT
of the quasi-static over methods to produce data of quantitative
usefulness fvr design, including insitu shear strength.
No doubt the dynamic O"l' has a use, as derrcnstrated by Schmid's
(1975) centributien to this Conference. Nany organizations have sare
typeof in-house dynamic CPr use with in-house correlations. But,
the nore difficult to understand dynamic nature of the test, as well as
sare of the relatively poorly controlled variables such as the extent
of rod-soil shear contribution to bl"", CClU:1t resistance, makes the dy-
namic CPr a poor choice to the quasi-static CPT if the investi-
gator wishes to evaluate insitu shear strength. Hence, this sectien
now focuses exclusively en the quasi-static CPT.
We might ccnsider herein many types of Q-CPT and methods.
Sanglerat (1972) describes many. Scm! are very sophisticated and in-
tended for special applications (see 8roos & Broussard, 1965). Others
might have a broader usage. see for exarrple .allstenius (1961). but for
me reasen or another have not "caught en". In contrast. the lAItch
Q-CPT sounding systems and methods have caught on throughout the
including the USA. This paper refers specifically to the Dutch methods
listed in Table 9, altoough r.he general aspects of the discussions here-
in might apply to all Q-CPT trethods.
TABlE 9 - TiPES OF Q- CPT EQUlPMENI'/ME'TI-lOD5 DlSCUSS
2
D
(all developed in The Netherlands. 10 em , 6Qoccnes)
Systan Tip
I
Measures By
protectlon
Delft qc ea. 20 en Hydraulic load Reduced diarreter
IISI'ltle ce11 pushing above cone
,
alternately (the mantle)
I:legarann
Ge ano Is
on pushrods
frictioo-
ea. 20 en
and inner rods Inner rods between
cone tip and load cell
Electrical Fugro
Ge' or Ge
Strain gage Measurerrents at
cylindri-
and
transducers in tip below soil
cal shape tip, cable thru frictioo, no tip
cont "..ru.ous-
pushrods to sliding parts.
ly in 1m
increnents
surface recordeI
Delft Ge and f
9 Sane as above
shape
91
IN SITU SHl-AR STRLNGTH
The invention of the local friction sleeve to rreasure f
s
(Begem:mn,
1965) has greatly expanded the value of infornution obtained fran the
-CPT and the use of friction-cone tips has nCM becane routine. But,
they are also UI)L'e expensive and nore easily damaged. As discussed in
J.31. the tips have m:my advantages. Ho.Iever, the rrechanical
tips will probably always have a place of their relative rugged-
ness and simplicity.
3. 2 OJrrent I-Ethods for Esti..nating Shear Strength
As with the SPT, the CPT does not m:a.sure shear strength directly
but rreasures cone bearing capacity, 'lc' and soil-steel frictioo along
the local friction sleeve, f
s
' both of Wlhich depend on shear strength.
Alternately, the advance of a cone penetraneter opens a cylindrical
cavity in the soil and thus suggests the probable usefulness of cavity
expansion theory to evaluate soil strength properties from the CPT.
Although, ...hen canpared to the SPT, there has been much more attem;Jt to
use theory and controlled laboratory research, including the use of
large triaxial calibration charrbers, the current state-of-the-art still
depends largely on empirical correlations.
3.21 9" in Sands: deBeer developed a conservative rrethod for deter-
mining 9" that has received extensive use in sane countries, notably
Belgium. See Sanglerat (1972. p. 121) and ESOPT (1974, p. 24) for de-
tails. The IIEthod originates fran bearing capacity theory. It often
produces results too conservative for econanical design. A less con-
servative procedure, wit:h a semi-eITlJirical basis. appears to be in use
in the USSR (ESOPI'. 1974. p. 151). Figure 8 presents this correlation,
The DEGEBO researCh b W. Berlin with large-scale rIDdel footings
crI sands. as reported by Muhs and Weiss (1971. p. 27) noted that:
III
0.80 N
y
... (eq. 1)
IoIith N the ordinary bearmg capacity factor fran the Terzaghi general
y
shear case. Because factor depends coly 00 the engineer
can estinate fran this estiJmte of N,y" The results IoIO.lld apply nost
directly to bearing capacity C<XIFutaticos for shallCM foundations. as in
92
82
..
"
j
III
III 0'
..
...
"
Q.
l:
III
GI
'tl
...
C/o
.a
...
..
>
0
Il.
..
> a'
...
...
u
GI
...
...
w
IN SITU MLASURnll::NT
Q-CPT bearing capacity
...
....
III
...
..
...
..
f.
"
....
FIGURE 8 - METHOl' FOR [STIt,lATItJG 13' froCTI
qc REPORTED IrI USE IN USSR
(ESOPT, 1974, p. 151)
(a) Example modified qcdepth
profile
H tN/.'
,en.'. 0.7. ! L,O.
line. N
q
o. a 10
Results from this
93
.
200 -
(b) Chart to determine tan ,
from bearing capacity number
FIGURE 9 - & SEtJrJESET METHOD
FOil DETRrW,ING . FR,).'
A Q-CPT LOG
IN SITU SHt-.AR STRI::NGTU
[.GEllO study. Actually. q depends on many ot....ler variables besides
c
lIDst notably coopressibility and stress level.
D.Jrgmoglu and Mitchell (1975 ) have presented papers to this
explaining in detail the theory and procedures for their
::ktrod for estimating in sands using CPT data. They used a rigid-
plastic, wedge-displacanent bearing capacity ':heory, with eupirical
::l"ldifications to take accomt of the circular shape of the CQ'le. !br
i'Jl!r. a1m>st all observations of soil displacanents arOlnd an advancing
,x{le in sands show the failure as primarily a cOlTpressibility-dis-
illa.:e:rent. concmtrated in the zone :inrrediately below the cone point.
Chly tests in dense sand near the surface SClTet:imeS show wedge shaped
;lo3ttems. It seem; likely this theory will prove IOOSt useful for pur-
?Jses such as trafficability and roller carpactial control, when evalu-
ating .p' over the first meter or two of depth -- a depth interval not
usually investigated by other theories.
Janbu & Senneset(1974)have a lIEthod for determining sands
.roch also has its basis in bearing capacity theory nodified by
.:al observatian. Their theory applies to situations where the qc profile
increases approximately linearly with depth in sand deposits assUll'ed to
:-.ave an approximately constant over the linear depth interval.
Figure 9 (a) illustrates such a profile, with depth calyerted to effec-
tive overburden pressure, p', and = qc - p. with P .. total overburden
;>ressure. The investigator then estimates an average linear qc - p'
profile through this deposit and obtains the slope, N
p
' and intercept
a (usually negative) of this profile. One then enters N N
p
+ 1 into
. q
the shaded tale in Figure 9 (b) and determines a probable value of tan
applicable to the insitu overburden pressure range. The figure in-
:ludes the determination of tan for the sand in 9 (a). This J & S
:ethod appears to produce reasonable results for the calditions they
studied. They used F'ugro-type tips. It has the advantage of takirlg
acCo.Jnt of the overburden pressure effects. Their nethod can also
include pore pressure effects by using a supplE!IE!lltary procedure.
Finally, as with the SPl', one can use an indirect nethod for esti-
::ating 41' through the relative density parameter. Fie;ure 10 presents a
94
114 IN SITlI f>1I.ASlil{f-.Ml.Nl
relative density versus cone bearing correlation irl current, but t ~
porary use by the writer. It applies to nonnally consolidated. lredil.l1l
to fine sands. Its basis lies in part on a series of about 70 qc deter-
m:i..n<}tims in two dry sands at different relative densities in the Uni-
versity of Florida's 4 foot diameter triaxial calibration chanber. See
Laier et.a1. (1975) for a description of the chamber and Holden (1971)
for sare of the testing details. These curves are also based in part
Q1 the results from the WES (Shockley and StrolLTl, 1961) relative
density studies of Mississippi River sands be1001 the water table. The
data points sha.ll1 indicate the distribution of the data extracted fran
the WES reports on these tests. The differences between Dr predicted
from the Figure 10 curves and the Dr values lreasured by special un-
disttni>ed sanp1ing ha:I a standard deviation of about 7%. After naking
such an estirrate of relative density the engineer enters Figure 3 to
estimate ' I ' ~
The user of Figure 10 mJSt correct overconsolidated sands to their
equivalent nonnally consolidated qc before entering Fig..rre 10. He my
use Equations (2) and (3) for this purpose if he can lIBke an indepen-
dent estimate of the overcmsolidatim ratio (CCR) or the insitu K
o
'
coefficient of the sand.
K
o /K ~
o NC
(CCR)0.42
. .. (eq. 2)
K
O
[1 + 3/4 ( ~ - 1)] ... (eq. 3)
Coc'
Equatim (2) cares fran the chanber-test experience with sands and is
surprisingly similar to what has been observed in the laboratory fran
tests on clay. Equation (3) expresses the average results from chanber
tests as presented by Schmeronann (1974 ,Fig. 2).
3.22 Su in Clays, At present engineers use an equiltion in the form
of Equation (4) a1iiDst exclusively to evalute the undrained shear
strength su' with N
c
the bearing capacity factor for clay appropriate
for a deep, circular fOlndation. Unfortunately. we can no longer
95
1110 LI SIII:AK STl<ll'\l; I /I

0
8 8
.-, C"II .....
U1 "b auo' IdJ-b
10 - Q-CPf BLAHltJG CAPACITY TO ESTIr.:ATr: HEI.ATIVe: uUlSITY HI
IIClH:.iALLY SILTY rHJl TO MELJIUM ::,A:ms
96
1<5
,J
,-,
.'
...
-'
.'

"-'
-...
-'
...
,.
>
86 IN SITU MEASUREMENT
imagine N
c
as a sirrple Clrlstant. Today \ole recognize that N
c
varies
with at least the factors indicated in Table 10. Q1e can easily see
11c - yz
Su co -r-l-
c
... (eq. 4)
where ). z = total overburden pressure at
depths of Clc
TABlE 10 - sa-IE OF lliE VARIABLES
1liAT INFUJENCE Nc
e
p )
pote pressures.
Variable Approx. N Direction Notes
factor c
potential
1. Olanging the test 2 to 3 Better sampling, see Eqn 4.
rrethod for obtair,- thinner vanes. USE
ing reference s of suPMl' all
u
decrease N
c
2. Clay stiffness 3 Increases with Vesic (1972)
ratio = G/s
u
increasing
stiffness
3. Ratio increasingl 3 Decreases with ILadanyi (1967
lIOdulus deCreasUlg ratio
(E IE ) at peak Su
4. effective 2 to 3 Increases with (1974 )
friction. tan ' increasing.;. .
5. K
o
' or OCR 3 Increases with (1974 )
K
o
'
6. Shape of pene- 2 Clay adhesion on in
tI"OOEter tip mantle of rnechani- Amar et.al.
cal tips increaseJ (1975,
N
c
Fig. 2)
1.5 Reduced diameter
above cone can (1972b)
decrease N in
.
very sensitive
clays
7. Rate of pene- 1.2 Increasing rate vi s,cous. no
tration increases N
c
pore pressur
effects
8. M:!thod of 1.2 Continuous (electrical tips)
penetration penetration decreases N
i
a tl s ecause 0 hi. er
97
11'\ SITU SHI-AH STHLI'\GTlI
~ y the N
c
values reported frem various errpirical correlation studies
vary from about 5 to 70 (for eXo3J!ille in Amtr et. a1. 1975). Thus, to
use a single N
c
value for all soils and all penetrometer tips repre-
sents a gross oversimplification ~ l i c h can lead LO serious error.
117
Despit.e this variation in N
c
' the use of equation (4) represents
such a convenience that engineers use "average" values for N
c
wtti.ch
they believe applicable to rrost "ordinary" clays. If the reference Su
Ccm:!S frem corrpression LeSLS on sa'lples obtained irem tndisturbed
sarrpling using high quality borehole sarrples, of young, non-fissured
clays with OCR < 2 and not highly sensitive, a:1d with PI at least 10%,
lII3I1y engineers use N
c
~ 10 with electrical penetror.eter tips w"ith
cylindrical shafts and N
c
~ 16 for the Begerr.ann :rechanical tip, both at
rates of pe:1etration of 1 to 2 centi..r.eters per second. The best. procedure
is to make your o.m correlation for N
r
to match ycur clays, Cl'T rips, and ref.
suo An engineer may also find it useful Ionen using friction-cone tips
to cClTpute the adhesion on the local friction sleeve, f
s
' and use this
as a la.;rer limit for s .
u
3.23 sip' Ratio: For SCl':l"e purposes this dim:msionless form for
lZldrained strength will pro'.e es?Ccially useful, as for exar.-ple ....nen
estimating the OCR insitu and K
o
' or when using SHANSEP rrethods (Ladd
lnd Foott, 1974) for compressibility. Until the use of the field vane
shear te$t. the expected linear-ity of !' u with overburden depth, and
therefore p'. in NC clays had not been derronstrated clearly insitu.
~ CPr qc depth profiles in clay as well as sand (see Janbu I s lIEthod
in 3.21) often also clearly sha.;r this linearity. Consider the exarrp1e
pre5ented in Figure 11. For another see deRuiter and Fox (1975).
Figure 11 presents data obtained from a yOlng, slightly organic,
marine silty clay kna.ll1 to be nOrTMlly consolidated tnder the fill
placed for LaGuardh Airport in Nev York City. Using Ne= 16 for the
Beganann tip produces sip' = 0.25 Ccupression tests on 3 inch diarreter,
fixed piston, tndisturbed sarrp1es also produced su/p' =- 0.3 for this
clay. For this study we used an especially sensitive hydraulic load
cell to lIEasure the force applied to the inner rods of the Begemann
rrechanica1 friction-cone tip. The cCJ:q:>utatioo.s for ~ also included
the additioo.a1 pressure due to the accumulated weight of inner rods,
98
Ill!
q
10
II
.1
oil
I'
..
G>
..

c
....
IN SITU MEASUREMENT
qc using Begemann tip, kgf/cm
2
100 lOO 300
LAGUAI\DlA AlHi'ORT (l''Ie)
ORGANIC "SILT" (silty clay)

ave. w =100%
ave. I
p
=(,0';:;
ave. C
c
!(l
T
e
o
) = O.2?
'Po = p' with mechanical
tips because they are
open to water pressure
,I
'.0-' t
7i'(i;j .. 0, 5"
FIGURE 11 - OF LWEAR INCHCAS" HJ q
WITH DEPTH IN t,C CLAY, AIJLJ Or- ESTIMATING
THE su/P' kATIO USING EQN. 4
99
IN SITU SHI:AK STKI:./,;Gl H
with inner-outer rod friction assumed zero.
the weight of the inner rods in the IreChanical system
prevents a CIc lIEasurenEnt because the pressure due to this weight alone
exceeds the bearing capacity of a soil. In such a very weak soil the
engineer can scm:t:ines succeed in obtain:Ulg a qc lIEasurerent by using
alllllinl.a"1l inner rods. For extrellEly weak clays. as for exartl'le scm:-
times found offshore,he must employ electrical, or possibly hydraulic.
tips which rreasure bearing resistance at the tip itself (Hirst, !.t. !l.
1972).
3.24 Pile CapacitY: of the earliest and IID5t obvious uses for
the CPT considers this test as a nodel pile test fran 1Nhich to extra-
polate the end bearing capacity of real piles. The IUtch have used
their IoIell knoI.n form of the err for many years to predict. usually
'Jithin 50%, the ultimate of displacerent piles driven through
soft clays to end bearing in lIEdiun and fine sands. Note that gravelly
soils increase CIc disproporticnately to pile capacity. The reader can
find the details of this prediction lIEthod for end bearing in the ESOPI'
by Heijnen (1974, p. 81). L. Nottingham (1975) recently can-
pleted. but has not yet published, a crr and nodel pile study to evalu-
ate. and if possible iJrilrove, the err prediction rrethods for pile capa-
.:ity. His \oUrk, together with that of Freed (1973), included a large
of field tests of three and four inch diameter straight-sided
md step tapered steel, and four inch square concrete piles. all fran
to 10 foot length, into both sands and sandy clays. Nottingham ob-
tained the end bearing prediction cooparisons sunnarized in Table 11.
He CQlcluded that he could not iJIprove upon the IUtch oetho::! and he
recootralded its continued use. The writer agrees.
The recent addition of a local friction sleeve to the CPT tips now
:Jennits the nore accurate determination of the side-shear strength con-
:ribution. both positive and negative, to the total pile capacity.
concentrated his efforts CXl developing a procedure. as sinl>le
as possible consistent with accuracy, to use f
s
fran both electrical
(Fugro) and oechanical (Begemann) friction-cone tips. He fOlnd that he
use f
s
' with appropriate rrodification factors, and predict the
100
119
90 IN SITU T
TABLE 11 - Sl.r.U\RY Of NCJITINGIL\'!'S (1975) mDEL
PILE END BEARING PREDICTIONS USU-K;
!HE DlJl'CH (HEIJNF1l, 1974) W:-"1HOD
Soil Pile "rictioo-cone No.

tip cases
ave lavel
Fine sand pipe Fugro 35 +11;0 25/0
above Q..1l' Begenann 35 +16% 33"/0
concrete Fugro 20 +14/0 23"/0
Begemann 20 +20% 36%
Sandy clay
Pi:j Fugro
14 + 970 1710
belCM Q.ll'
concrete Begemann* 14 +71"10
*Not recomrended in cohesive soils without a
tip correction factor. Factor = 0.6
friction capacities of his lIl)del piles. and also of full-scale displace-
DEnt piles. with about the sane accuracy as noted in Table 11 for end
bearing. For exarrple. before any pile load tests the writer. using
Nottingham's IIEthod and assuming the H-pile equivalent to a square con-
crete pile, predicted the total capacity of 10 HP42 piles, driven to
96.5 foot depth at the site with the unifonn soil conditions sha.m iII
Figure 7, as 86 tens . Not t ingham independent 1Y predicted 88 tons. TIle
piles failed at 80 and 85 tons. These piles were deliberately
placed with their tips in a layer with bearing capacity. and tested
for friction capacity 7 days after driving, prior to final driving to
rock. Approximately l::l5% of total capacity of these 96.5 ft. piles con-
sisted of side friction.
Nottingham (1975) also applied the Dutch end bearing and his side
frictioo prediction methods to 17 full-scale piles load tested to fail-
ure in Florida and Georgia. He then prediction with reality.
The corrparisons included 10 to 18 inch square concrete. 11 indl pipe,
,
step-taper aI'd tiITber piles. His prediction error for total ultimate
capacity ranged fran about -40 to +20"1.. with an algebriac average error
of -11/0 , He recamended ITI3..x5rwm safety factors for design of 2.25 when
using Fugro-type friction-cooe tips and 3.0 if using the Begernazm tip.
All Q-O'T data for the full-scale piles c.ar.e fran using the Begem1l1ll tip.
101
IN SITU SIII-AK STKL/'Ii(;T11
Hopefully, Notting.'lam will SOOI1 publish the details of his research.
Because of its immediate usefulness he has agreed to let the writer pre-
sent herein the following of his rrethod for estimating drained
pile-soil friction capacity. Basically, the takes the local
frictioo rreasurenents. f
s
' and corrects them for the type penetroneter
tip used. type of soil penetrated, the pile material and taper. and
the relative depth of the pile penetratioo. Equatioo (5) presents the
8B L
Q
s
... K
s

c
[ (lB) fsA
s
' + fsA
s
') ... (eq. 5)
J. -=0 88
91
= total ultimate side friction resistance
.. f correction factors, K in clay layers.
K: in sand layers (see Frg. 12)
.. depth to f
s
value considered
.. pile width or d.ialreter
... unit local friction sleeve resistance
A' .. pile-soil contact area per f depth
s s
L .. total embedded length of pile
predictioo f01'TT1Jla for ultlllBte pile friction with the various te11I5
explained below. Figure 12 presents graphs for the f
s
correction fac-
tors in clay and in sand. !he first sUlIllation term represents a
depth-of-enbeddment correctioo applied only over the 8B penetration
fran the ground surface.
With a continuously tapered or step-tapered pile. divide the pile
into increnents of coostant-diarreter length having the sane
total pcriJreter area and use the sa;re proceet.JI"e as for straight-sided
piles. Jio,.rever. determine K applicable to each constant-dianeter
S.'
length by using the LIB at the bottan of each such length. At e,:lch
real (for step-tapered piles). or imagined (for continuously tapered)
step asSl.m'! an additional "side frictioo" equal to the average Clc at
the depth of the step tirres the horizontal area of the step tilrEs a
factor "5" given in Table 12.
102
92
IN SITU Ml:.ASUREMENT
l\OTTIr'31A/." S (1975) FACTORS
FOR EQUAT1 ON (:
FIGUflE 12
0.:>
concrete 0
Fugro tip
10
K
s
o On
1----+--I--I-7"'-'-----bool
lD
?i-
II 15
o
...
...
:: 20
.s::.
...
'0
1- 25 1--4+--1-+
...
a-
41
'0 30 I---Hi--t-l
41
....
....
"-
40 L..LL.J..lL:J...IL.LJ'lL.J__..J-_--'----I
Hydra lic
fill
qc (kgf/cm
2
)
100 ISO loo
qc (expanded sca Ie)
.5 .2, t;'_-+__+_---..:0::r-_---=i-F-__1'i:0".._...,IS
o std. rate of
penetration
3
9 Est irta ted bot tOrt
Ul of fill

.!
:5 s F7..c..:..LJ...c..:...c..:.-'If''---+----!
a-
41
c
, L-_-4-_--'-__-'-_.....
FIGURE 13 - EXAMPLE OF USHJG PORr: PRESSURE EfFECTS TO
DETERIo'IUE SOIL I..A. YER !DUNDARY
103
IN SITU SHI:AH. STRI:NGTII
TABLE 12 - OOITlllQ-lAM' 5 CDRREC!1m
FAcroR "5" FOR ADDITIONAL
mCTIOO Al.OOG TAPERED
AND STEP-TAPERED PILES
93
Type fricticn-
cone penetrometer
F'ugro
Begernann
Soil
sand
clay
sand
clay
s
1.6
1.0
1.6
0.6
TIle capacity predictioo accuracy obtainable ..nen using these CPT
md bearing and frictioo lIEthods represents an ilTportant
in the state-of-the-art, at least in the USA, for this type insitu
strength problan. For exar.ple, ccnsider a recent "contest" bet\een
different predictioo made before the pile load tests, including
SPT, static computation from undisturbed sampling and lab testing
strengthS, wave equatioo predictions fran ch:iving records, wave equation
predicticns fran special pile-energy input lIEaSurerrents, as well as the
CPT. The investigation involved about 20 piles of different types
carried to failure in the vicinity of Jacksoovi.lle under the supervisioo
of lEW Engineering Testing The CPT predictions proved IIDst
accurate (7 of 11 within 25%).
TIle CPT metOOd also has the advantage of permitting predictions
and design decisions before any actual driving. Of course, it also has
several disadvantages. Q1e of these is that CPT penetration IIUSt ex-
tend four pile dianeters past the pile tip, 'oIhich is often not possible
for high capacity. end bearing piles when using present penetrareter
e::jlUprrent.
Although Nott ir.gha:n, as well as others, recognized the theoretical
advantage of analYZing the capacity of piles in clay using drained
(effect;;'ve stress) metOOds, these have not yet developed to the point
of practical usefulness. The recently proposed A-lIEthod (Vijayvergiya
ald Focht, 1972) <:rid the (Burland, 1973) involve a partial in-
troductioo of effective stress coocepts, ,but they still require esti-
mates of suo VesiC: (1975) suggests a rrethod that does not require suo
104
94 IN SITU MEASUREMENT
3.3 Other Recent Tednical DevelOf!!81ts
3.31 Increased Use of Electrical Tips; Because of the many advan-
tages offered by the use of electric tips, they are gradually taking
aver CPr WJrk as organizatic.ns obtain the instruTel1tatiOl1 and main-
tenance facilities required to operate with such tips. 1llese advan-
tages include continwus (usually in ene neter rod length incrarents)
logging of tip resistances, the mre accurate separation of the Clc and
f
s
caJlXXlellts of resistance, greater overall SO\.D1dir.g speed because of
avoiding the stopping and starting necessary for each !lEasurerrent as
required with the telescoping trechanical penetrcm!ters, the eliminatien
of soil-pushrod, inner-outer rod, and hydraulic load cell frictien ef-
fects by taking the readings directly at the tip, the ability to test
very weak soils by appropriate adjusOlEnt of transducer sensitivity,
and the ability to relatively easily incorporate instruTel1ts such as
inclincm!ters and pressure devices. But. one IlUSt ccnsider the
added costs of the tips and the sup;x>rt facilities needed to use and
maintain them. tips will continue to have a usefulness be-
cause of cost and simplicity.
In the offshore testing envir=t the use of electric tips has
becare alDOst essential. CPI' WJrk fran fixed offshore platforms be-
OJIII!S difficult after about 30 treters water depth and a1m:lst i.rrp)ssible
after about 60 lIEters depth because of the suppon casing requirerents.
offshore usually requires that operates rarotely
en the seabed or on a wireline at the bottom of a cased boring -- both
centrolled by electric cables frClll the surface ship. !he thrust capa-
bility of CPr pla.tforms to the seabed has reached 201JEtric
For references en offshore CPr see deRuiter (1971) and
Hirst (1972).
'Ihe cylindrical electrical tips also have the advantage of pro-
viding a better nodel of the shape of mst displacme1t piles.
rt>ttingham used both the Fugro electric and BegemlnIl lJEChanical fric-
t1on-cone tips for the research discussed in 3.24. As shown in Table 11
for end bearing, and in his safety factor reaJmIEndatial, he fomd
that Ql the average he could cc.nsistently predict either pile end bear-
ing or pile frictial ml;e accurately lOhen using the electric tip. The
105
IN SITU SHEAR STRENGTH
difference in accuracy did not result fran chart recording vs. Bourdon
gage reading because he also had a transducer and chart recording sys-
tem to replace the manual gage reading ordinarily used with the lIleChlIni-
cal tip.
3.32 Shape of Electric Tip: An inportant teclnical argment devel-
oped in Europe concerning the best tip shape to use for the electrical
tips. The design of the rrechanical tips has the ccnstraints inposed by
the need for telescoping operation and a reduced diarreter mantle above
the cone, both to keep the sliding parts as free fran soil contaminatial
as possible. These. and other constraints do not exist for the elec-
trical tips and designers can choose alnDst any shape they wish. F\lgro
(deRuiter, 1971) chose the siJrplest shape, a conventional 60
0
cone point
with a constant diarreter cylindrical shaft, including the local friction
sleeve, above that point. The Delft Soil M:!chanics Laboratory chose a
shape which they believed best reproduced the rp.sult.c; achieved fran
their widely used rrechanical tips (Heijnen, 1973). The Delft tip de-
sign has a section of reduced di.alI"eter above the cone point so as to
produce CIc data supposedly better matching that obtained with the Delft
aechanical tips. Part of the argtm:!l1t also concerns the best locat1Cl'\
for the local friction sleeve. The Fugro tip has the sleeve iJmediately
above the cone and the Delft tip a considerable distance above the cone
and above their reduced di.arteter sectiat. 1hi.s review will rot discuss
all the pro and con argurents for these two tips. Holden (1974b) dis-
cusses this in s ~ detail and recamends the Fugro shape. At this
point the writer has no doubt that the consensus of world opiniat, ex-
pressed in the form of the actual construction of electrical tips,
fawrs the Fugro cylindrical sha?E!. The current proposed AS'lM standard
for quasi-static cone penetration tests also requires electrical tips
have the cylindrical shape.
3.33 Calibration Work in Large Triaxial Chalrbers: Largely as a re-
sult of the efforts of J. C. Holden, several universities and other
organizatiats have nC7W constructed large CPr triAxial calibration cham-
bers. These have the plJIlXlse of assisting with the evaluatioo of
various O'T tip designs and calibrating CPr results in sands placed at
arttrolled, mifom de1sitics and subject to kna.n bol.l'ldary stresses
106
9S
96 IN SITU MEASUREMEJ',;T
and stress histories. Holden built the first soch chalIber at the
Roads Board research fac iliry in Mel.hourne, Aus tralia, sncl the
second, sare.tlat at the lhiwrsity of Florida. See 1Aier et.al.
(1975) for a clescriptial of the lhiverSity of Flortda chaDber. There
is new at least one still larger but similar chalIber in Australia
(a-.apaan, 1974) and one \ncler CQ"lStru::tial at the tbI"olegLm Geot.eciTlical
Institute. WE.S in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and D.Jke lhiversity at
D.Jrhau, J-brth Carolina, have built chaI!bere of different Still
other organi..zat1.crls have plans for cc:nstructing such chaIrbers. The use
of these charrbers has already helped to better tn:ierst.8nd and calibr..te
the perfoI1llllnCe of the CPr, the PMr. and even the SPl'.
A very inpJrt.a:'lt reasal to justify the use of these large chan:bers
is that they pennit separating the similar effects of increased effec-
tiw stress lewl and increased density. field C&1ibratioo
rarely permits soch separat1al.
3.34 Pore Pressure Effects: lis discussed in 2.32, pore pressures
change the acbi.ent effective stress CQ1di.tia'.s surrCUlding an advancirlg
penetrmeter and therefore IIDdi.fy its resistance to penetration.. Such
pore pressures effect the CPr as well as the SPT. In fact. it has been
the CPr research using tips also c.arrying quick-response, electric
pieZCIIEters that has dem:lnstrated the sig;ri.fic.a:nt of these
pore pressures and their naw obvicus to any interpretatilXl
of CIc and f
s
' For of pore pressures, both positive
and negative in the area SraJrld the po:!.nt of the ClrIe, see the cootri-
butioo to t.hi..s Ccnfereoce by Wi.&sa et. a1. (1975). For other cIis=-.JSsial
of the :i.JIp:lrtm'lce of pore pressures see Scl1l2rtlla1'1n (197Lta, b) and
Senneset (1974, p. 91).
At. present the best IIEthod for evaluating pore pressure effects al
CIc end f
s
consists of observing the effect of d1anging the rate of pene-
trat1al. 1he engineer can decrease rate \rItil he no lCJ'lger obserws a
change in C1c' at which point he 1liiy perhaps assUIe that any pore pres-
sure effects have beccm: negligible and he has the drained case. ero-
W!rsely, he can increase rate of penetratioo and estimate the lie for
lotUch any further rate increase does n:>t change 'Ie and assUIe this the
107
IN SITU SHEAR STRENGTH
U'ldra1ned case. TIle writer suspects that the factor-of-2 rate of pene-
tration effects noted by AlTar et. a1. (1975. Fig. 3) in sands and silts
result frCIII greater positive or negative pore pressure dissipati.al at
the rates. Benben aid Myers (1974) the effect of rate en
Qc in a varved clay.
ire engineer might also use pore pressure effects as a tool to help
distinguish different soil types. For eY.arrple. consider the CPT log in
Figure 13 ootained using rrechanical equip::ent. 5aJEI.he.re in the lClrCle
layer exists transitioo bet;.leen an overlying ncn-plastic, saturated,
easily liquefied,loose fill and a highly plastic, organic, fibrous
natural clay. The Cle and FR data did not clearly define this bo=da.ry.
lb.olever. reducing the penetration rate to about l/lO the ordinary rate
ooticably increased Cle in the fill, probably because a slcwer penetra-
tion rate pore pressure dissipatien. \oo'hi.le this reductiCXl hoki no
effect in the organic clay. The writer could thus use the difference
in pore pressure behavior to determine the bculdary between fill md
natural soil.
(he uright also reascnably expect that the magnitude of excess pore
pressure ga1erated by a cone penetrareter, and its rate of dissipatien
after stopping the cooe advance. \oUJ.ld involve primarily the soil's
insitu c=pressibility and peru:eability -- two pieces of data and two
This looks l:iU an area for useful research.
3.35 Testing Soil Ccx!paction: The CP1' tip inserti.cn by hydraulic
or rrechanical rrethods at a ccncrolled. standard rate of penetrati.cn,
and the automatic recording (electrical tips) or simple reading of
Bourdc:n gages (rrecha:nical tips with load cell at surface) minimizes the
luran factors Iohen ootai..ning CPT data. The resultant high level of CP1'
reproducibility, and the contim.Dus or alJIpst-ca1.tinoous Cle-depdl pro-
file, lTBkes the CPT test an ideal tool to evaluate site stratigraphy',
search for any ramants of U1excavated weak layers, and to evaluate
the depths, miformLty and degree of carpacti.cn.
After appropriate calibration. the insicu bearing strE!'lgth. Cle.
IlIl1ces a convenient indicator for evaluating cout>BctiCXl effort.
Ibod.oard-Clyde & Associates made very extensive use of the CPT to help
CCIltrol the large fill srbankrrents at the UJdcIi.r>gtCXl pulPed
108
97
98 IN SITU MEASUREMENT
storage project (Leary and Solan, 1971). Before and after CCJIlllaction
studies via Clc profiles are particularly effective because of the high
reprodtcibility of the CPr. Webb and Hall (1969) illustrated this Use
for the Cl'I' 00 a project inwlving sand da1sificatioo by the Vibroflo-
tatioo process. Sclmertm3nn (1970) sho..ted its effectiveness in defining
the limits of surface roller caTlJact:i.a1. Figu::e 14 presents another
where the writer helped to evaluaee the effects of the Terra-
probe de.nsificatiDn uetmd mder a large oil t.rlk. At this site the
Terraprobes had bean insereed at 6 foot centers, to a depth of 50 feet,
but ooly under the tank. TIle "before" cooditioo was obtained by CPI's
around ehe tank and outside the Terraprobe influence. '!hese qc profiles,
obtained using the Begemann tip, illustrate their reproducibility and
pennit 80m! relatively sophisticated cooclusions. For exarrple, each
suecessi'..oely deeper sand layer was less improved, probably due to the
vibratory screening actial of the intermediate cohesh:e layers. The
surface layer greatly increased qc' 1h.e middle sand layer Clc increased
rreasurably and CCl1Sistently but only a relatively SlI\all annunt. The
deepest sand layer did not Note that the various carpac-
tioo rrethods do noe always produce the increases in qc sha.m
in the above ex<JIllle and references.
3.36 Theories of CPT Behavior: As rIEIltiooed in 3.21, the theoreti-
cal develCinents wi th respect to the CPT continue aloog t".010 separate
directions. (he direcei.Cl'l, as exetplified by thE' recent IoQrk of Janbu
(1974 ) continues to use bearing capacity theory. The other directioo
imolves the use of cavity expa:1Sioo theory, as exaI{llified by the
work of Ladanyi (1967, 1972), (1972) and Al-Awkati (1975).
Although Janbu COOtinues to derrc'nstrate the usefulness of the tradi-
tiooal, with m:xtificaticns, bearing capacity approach the writer believes
that ultimitely the cavity expansioo relac.ed theories daninate.
They sh:luld provide a better opportunity for including the very iIrp:>r-
tant carpressibility and JXlre pressure: effects.
IN SITU SHEAR STlU,N<.iTH 99
Ave. "before" N = 2.8 (of 19)
"after" N = 4.8 (of 8)
GWL
*- I
mostly silty
flne sand
(boring logs
indicate 10-2QX
/t200)
mostly soft,
interbedded, organic
clay and silt-clay
mixtures
(natural)
sand, grading to
cleaner with depth
hydraulic, fine
sand fill
(occasional cohesive
lenses or mudballs)
(boring logs indicate
3 to 8% -200 sieve)
mostly soft-medium
clays to silty clays
. '. .' .'.
compacted clayey-sand pad
.@
L
= 3.5%
I
I
I
I
L
range of' "before"
CY,r profiles '
I (3 ingt )
I I
- -1-- i ---
. I
, I
qc in kg/cm
2
(Begemann tip)
o __.=1"0
'flO I
10'
So'
o
+'
-g
..
"'
..
...
..
E
C
....
>
..
...
..

...
..
A
.&.
...
Q.
t!:,
...
...
FIGURE 14 - EXAMPLE OF COMPARlr.C Q-CPT SOlJNDING DATA BEFORE
AIID AFTER ATTEMPT AT DEEP (some N data included)
110
I.W I!\ Sill' MI ,\Sl KI :-. I
J. LISr UF
= Journal of the Soil and Foundatiens l>ivision
=Journal of tile I::ll::,i.l1eering ilivisien
= Internat ienal Conference of Soil and Found-
atien I::ngineering
= Pan Arrerican PanAro
SC-IM>P = Specialty Cenference en Insitu Measurerrent of Soil
Properties
SC-PEJ::SS = Specialty Calference en the PerfcnTI3I1ce of Earth and
Earth-Supported Structures
= State-of-the-art
Abbreviations useJ !lerein:
J-S1lFD
J-G':O
1CSI-lFl::
= Special Technical Publication
Aas, G., 1967, "V,]J"\e Tests for Investigation of Anisotropy of UndraineJ
Shear Strength of Clays," Proc. of the Geotech:1ical Conference,
Oslo, Vol. I, pp. 3-8. See also Proc. 6t;1 ICS:'IFl;;, Vol. I, Pl'.
141-145. -----
AIJarn, J., 1971, Discussion of (1971), 4ti1 PanAro Cenf. on SIr.Fl::,
Puerto Rico, Vol. Ill,
AJ,-Awkati, Z. 1969, "A SWJy of the Cone Penetration Test in Insensi-
tive CDhesive Suib." llaster' s thesis to the DeparOiEI1t of Civil
I::ngineering, University of Florida, 103 PI'.
Al-Awkati, Z.. 1975, "Q1 Problalls of Soil Uearing G.1pacity at De;:>th,"
Ph. O. dissertation to the Depar07eTlt of Civil Engineering, 1AJke
UniverSity, 204 pp.
Am.'1I". S., F. J. F. Jezequel anJ A. Le 1975, "In situ
She.ar Resista1ce of Clays," ASCE, SC-IH:iP, Vol. I, pp. ;u-4S.
Arman, A., J. K. Poplin and Ahmad, 1975. "Study of the V<ll1C Shear,"
ASCI:: , SC- IH';P, Vol. 1, pp. 93-120.
ISagUelin, F., J. F. Jezequel, I::. L. and A. I.e 197L, "t:xpan-
si.n of CylinJrical Probes in Cohesivc Soils." A'iCE, J-SIIFl.l,
Vol. 9d, pp. 1129-1142. ------
Barthelemy, II. C.. 1974, "k1 Investigatioo of Relationships the
51'1' ilTld the Cone PcnetrOlcter in Sa1ds, Project IU::!port,
lkparO'ilmt of Civil I::.ngineering, Dukk- Lnivcrsity.
Bazaraa, fl.., 1967, "U::;c of Standard Penetration Test for I::stirnating
Settlerrcnts of Shallow Foundations on SanJ," Ph. O. Dissertation,
University of Illinois, Civil I::ngineering, 379 pp.
Begemann, N. K.. 1965, "TIle Friction Jackd Cone as an Aid in LA:!tennin-
inf!, the Soil Profile," Proc. 6th ICSllFE., Vol. 1, pp. 17-20.
Begcmann, H. K.. 1974, "Pet'etraticn Testing in Central allJ Western
I::uropc", J::SOPT, Stockholm, General 3, Vol. 2.1, p. 33,
111
I" SilL III "I< SI I< I M; I II
Bemben, S. H. anu LJ. A. llyN::>, 1974, "Tile Influence of Lhe P..:lte of
Penetration on Static Cone Values in Connecticut River
Valley Varved Clay", Scockholm, Vol. 2.2, p. 34.
Bj errtr.l , L., a:1d Flodin, 1960, "The [)eve10pTTEl1t of Soil Hec.ilanic:s in
SweUen 1900-192J," Vol. 10, No. I, pp. I-HI.
BjeI"TU11 , L., T. C. Kenney, 1967, "Effect of Structure al ti"le Shear
Ilehavior of Consolidated Quick Clays," Proc. of the Geo-
technical Conference, Oslo, Vol. II, pp. 19-27.
Bj eI"TU11, L., 1972, ''ErrbaI'lkrrEnts en Soft GrolEld," !'.SCE, SC-PEESS, lafay-
ette, Proe., Vol. II, pp. 1-54.
I:\jenun, L., 1973, "Problems of Soil and Constructim en Soft
Clays," State-of-the-Art Repore co Sessien IV, ICSlrFE,
Moscow, Vol. 3, p. 111.
Broms, Il. B., and D. E. Broussard, 1965, "Self-recording Soil Peneero-
!Teters," J-S!'-lFD, !'.SO::, Vol. 91, No. SMI., January, pp. 53-62.
Burland, J., 1973, "Shafe Friction of Piles in Clay: A SiJrple FlElda-
!rental Approach," Ground Engineering, Vol. 6, No.3, l1ay,.pp. 30-
42.
Cadling, L., and S. Odensead, 1950, "The Vane Harer," Royal SloIedish
Geotechnical Institute, Proc. No.2.
Casagralue, A., and N. Carrillo, 1944, "Shear Failure of Anisoerupic
Haeerials," Journal of me &lseon Soc. of Civil I::ngineers, Vol.
31, No.4, April (also in Contributions to Soil I-echanics, I:lSCE,
1941-53).
Casagrande, L., 1966, "Subsoils FOl.I1dation Design in Ric.hF.a1d,"
!'.SCE, J-SNFD, Vol. 92, s.1-5, Sepe., pp. 109-126.
Chapm:m, G. A., 1974, "A Calibration Q1a.,oer for Field Test Equiprrent,"
ESOPT, Stockholm, Vol. 2,2, pp. 59-66.
deMello, V., 1971, Standard Penetratial Tese -- A State-of-the-
Art Reporr," 4th PanAm Conf. on SM5.fl:, Puereo Rico, Vol. I, pp, 1-
86.
deRuiter, J., 1971, ''Eleceric Penetrareter for Site lnvestigaeiens,"
ASO::, Vol. 97, Feb., pp. 457-72.
deRuiter, J . and D. A. Fox, 1975. "Site Investigations for North Sea
Fort ies Field," paper arc 2246, Offshore Technology Ccnfennce,
Houseal, Fig. 6.
a+7, 1962, Dcsil?l1 I-lanual for Soi 1 Fo:..md.:J.ti01S and Earth
Structures, U. S. Navy, bureau of Yards &Docks.
D..ncan, J. H., and H. 1:\. ScecJ, 1966. "Anisotropy and Stress Heorienta-
ti01 in Clay," !'.SCE, Vol. 92, SH-5, Sept., pp. 21-50.
IAJrguloglu, H. and J. K. Hitchell, 1975, "Static Penetration Resistance
of Soils; I - Analysis, II - Evaluati01 of TIleory ancJ 1rJllI ica-
tiens for Practice," ASCE, Vol. I, pp. 172-189.
ESOI7J', 1974, European Syrrpositrn al Penetration Testing, Stockholm,
June. Vol. I, State-of-tlle-Art Reports.
112
IJI
Fletcher, G., 1965, "StanJarJ PenetrAtion Test: Its Uses and Abuses,"
ASCE, Vol. 91, July, p. 67.
Freed, D. L., 1973, "Prediction of Pile Side Resistance of SmxJth and
Rougll 4 Inch Square Concrete Piles Driven in Sand Using
Static Cone Penetro;,L!ter Data," t:"ster's thesis to DeparOTEnt of
Civil Engineering, University of Florida, December, 207 pp.
Frydmn, S., 1970, Discussion of Ireland, et.al., 1970, Gotechnigue,
Vol. 20, No.4, p. 454.
Gibbs, H. J. and W. H. Holtz, 1957. "P.escarch on Determininc the
Density of Sands by Spoon Penecr-ation Testing," 4th IC>:'IFE,
London, Vol. I, p. 35.
Gibson, R. E. and W. F. Andersm, 1961, "In-situ !'easurenEnt' of Soil
Properties with the Pressurerreter," Civil r:."1gineering a:1d Publico.
Works Vol. 56, pp. 615-lJ.
HarOTa:1, J. P., .md J. H. Schrrert:m:1."1, 1975, "IDl Study of Elastic
Phase of Pressureaeter Test," ASCE, SC-L'lSP, Vol. 1, pp. 190-207.
Heijnen, W. J., i,973, ''The Dutch Cone Test; Study of L'1e Sha?e of the
Electrical Lbne," Proc. tJth ICS:m::, Vol. 1.1, P? 181-H34.
Heijnen, W. J., 1974, "Penetratim Testing in Netherlands,"_r:.SOPT,
Stockholm, SOA Re?Ort, Vol. 1, pp. 79-83.
Hirst, T. J., A. F. Richards, and A. L. Indcrbitzen, "A Static Ccne
Penetra:eter for Ocea:1 Sedi..r.Ents," ASTl1, STP 501, pp. 69-00.
Holden, J. C., 1971, "L3boratory Research m Static Cone Penetrareters,"
Univ. of Florida, Dept. of Ci,il Engineering, Internal Report
Also, final report, Churchill Fellowship 1970,
CoUltry Roads Board of Victoria, Australia (1971).
Holden, J. C., 1974a, Discussion to I::SOPT, "T=ards StanJardizatim of
Tenninology, Symbols and Abbreviatioos in Penetra tim Test ing,"
Vol. 2.1, pp: 102-107.
Holden, J. C., 1974b, Discussion to ESOP!, "The Shape of the Electrical
Penetra:eter TiiJ," Vol. 2.1, pp. 100-102.
Holtz, G. and H. J. Gibbs, 1969, Discussion in ASCE Vol. 95,
5/l-3, t-'.ay, pp. 900-905. --
Houstm, W. N., 1960, "Correlation of Field Pe.."1etratirn and Vane Shear
Tests for Saturated Cohesive Soils," (A progress report), dureau
of Reclarmtion, Earth L3b Report ;-.le. 1:l-1-586 , Sept. 30, Fih'UI"e 6.
Ireland, H. 0., O. furetto and :1. Vargas, 1970, 'The Dynamic Penetra-
tim Test: A Standard That is f>;ot Standardized," Geotechnigue ,
Vol. 20, No.2, p. 185.
Janbu, N., (1974), Discussion to r:soPT, "Penetratims in Clay at
Undrained Ccnditims", Vol. 2.1, pp. 129-132.
Janbu, N., and K. Senneset, 1974, "Effective Stress Interpretatim of
In-situ Static Penetration Tests," ESOPT, Stockholm, Vol. 2.2,
pp. 181-194. -- .
113
IN SI"I USIIEAR STRI.:-'C;TII
,Kallstenius, T., 1961, "lA=ve loprrent of 1\.10 t-bdem Con::inuous
Proc. 5th IGs.1FE, Vol. I, pp. 475-400.
Kenney, T. C. and G. H. Watson, 1961, Triaxial Test
for Determining c' and cp' of Saturated Soils," Proc. 5th IC-lFE,
Paris, Vol. I, pp. 191-196.
Kenney, T. C., 1968, "A Review of Recent Research on. Strength and
Consoliclatioo of Soft Sensitive Clays," Canadian Geotechni.cal
JOlrrnal, Volume V, No.2, May, pp. 97-119.
Ladanyi, B.. 1960, ''Etude des Relations entre les ccnstra::ntes et des
Deformation.s lors du cisaillauent des soils Pulverulen::s,
A."1!1ales des Trava.D; F'"..Jbl\.cs de Belgique, No.3, pp. 1-30.
Ladanyi, ll., 1963, "Evaluati.on of PrcssureriEter rE:sts in Granular
Soils," Proc. 2nd Pa:1Am o:nf. SI'M'E, Sao Paulo, Vol. 1, pp. 3-20.
Ladanyi, B., 1967, "Deep Punching of Sensitive Clays," Proc. :lrd PanAro
Conf. Caracas, Vol. 1, pp. 533-46.
Ladanyi, B., 1972, "In situ iA'tenninatien of lhdrai.'ied Stress-Strain
Behavior of Sen3itive Clays with the PressureIlEter," Technical
Note, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Vol. 9, 3, P? 313-19
Ladd, C. C., 1973, Invited Discussion of Bjerrum (1973), Presented at
8th IC3HFE, ;bscCJ.ol.
Ladd, C. C., and R. Foo;:t, 1974, ",lew Design Procedure for Stability
of Soft Clays," ,."e:::., J-GiO, Vol. 100, GT-7, p. 76-7d6.
Wer, J. E., 1973, ''Effects of PressureITEter Probe l.e:1gth/Diarreter
Ratio and Borehole Disturbance en Pressurerreter Test Results b
I>ry Sand," Ph.i). ilissertatim to Departr.E'nt of Civil Engineerir.g,
lhiversity of Florida, 202 pp. 1
Laier, J. E., J. H. Scrrrerorann and J. H. Schaub, 1975, "Effect of
Finite Pressurlreter LengLh in Dry Sand," ASQ:, SC-D-!3F, Vol. 1.
pp. 241-259.
LaRochelle, P. and G. LefebvrE, 1971, "SaI'{lling Disturbance in
O1a.rJl:llain Clays," ASTM, SIP 483, pp. 143-163.
LaRochelle, P., R'1Y and F. Tave!Us, 1973, "Field of
Cohesion L-1 Clays," Proc. 8th IO-BFE, 1-bsC(J\,;, Vol. 1.1,
pp. 229-236. ----
LaRochelle, P., B. '{raJ<, F. Tavenas and t1. Roy, 1974, "Failure of a
Test FriJankr.ent en a Sensitive Olarrplain Clay DepOSit," Canadian
Geotechnical Journal, Vol. 11, No.1, pp. 142-162.
Leary, D., and C. Swan, 1971, "Eart.'"r.lOrk Quality CD:1trol of Ludington.
Pur.ped Storage RE:servoir," Wcxxiward-Clyde Co. repr-int of paper
presented at lntemat. Conf. en F'l.np2d Storage Deve lopr.-elt and its
Effect5, Milwaukee, 19-24 September.
Le:nasson, H., 1974, "L'ne nOU'lelle ITEthoc!e pour la r.E3ure de l'aniso-
tropie des argiles", Kapport Laboratoire Regicnal de Saint-Brieuc.
(discussicn in Amar, et.al. (1975
114
133
134 IN 511 U MIASLJRUIl-_Nl
to, K. Y. 1965, "Stability of Slopes in AnisotrOpic Soils," ASa::,
J-SMFD, Vol. 91, SM-4, July, pp. H5-106.
Ii:l.ean, F. G., A. G. Franklin anel T. K. Dahlstrand, 1975, "Influence of
Variables on the SPT," ASCE, SC-llP, Vol. I, pp. 2t17-
31H.
L., 1956, "An Apparatus for the Strength of Soils in
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Uliversity of Illinois.
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ICSMFE, lb1treal, Vol. II, pp. 295-99 (in French). --
t-t!yerhof, G. G., 1965, "Shall"'" F=dations," ASCE, J-SMFD, Vol. 91,
SM-2. March, pp. 21-31. --
tobhr, H. A., 1966, Discussion to Fletcher (1965), ASCE, J-SHFD, Vol. 92,
No. SM-l, January, p. 196. --
t1Jhs, H. and K. Weiss, 1971, "lhtersuchung vm Grentztragfahigkeit und
Setzungsverhalten flachgegrundeter Einzelfundamente im
lhgleichfonnigen nichtbindigen Boden," DegE'bo Heft 26.
Nordlund, R. L., 1963, "Bearing Capacity of Piles in Cd1esionless
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dissertation to the Deparorent of Civil Engineerin
6
, Lhiversity
of Florida, 552 pp.
Palrrer. A. C., 1972. "llidrained Expansion of a Cylindrical Cavity in
Clay: A Si..rTl>le Interpretatien of the PressurelTEter Test," Qo-
technique, Vol. 22, No.3, pp. 451-57. See also Discussicns---rn
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501, pp. 55-68.
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tion of Anisotropy of a Soft Clay," ASCE. SC-ll1SP, Vol. 1., p. 336.
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COU"lt of the SPI' in Dense Olattahoochee Sand." Project Report to
the Departrrent of Civil lligineering, Duke University.
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ASCE, SC-IMSP, Vol. I, pp. 350-372.
Sanglerat, G., 1972, The Penetrometer and Soil Exploratien, Elsevier-
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Schrrertmann, J., 196Ja, Discussion in ASCE, J-SMFD, Vol. 90, sM-4,
p. 187. --
115
IN SITU Sill AI{ STKL\CT/I
Schrrertmmn, J., 1963b, "Reconsoliciation Study of j/Ja:1r;lerud Quick. Clay,"
Norwegian Geotechnical Institute Internal Report F. 234, July,
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SJ'1<.FE, Plerto Rico, Vul. III, pp. 90-98.
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pp. 430-33.
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Data," ESOPT dicussien, Vol. 2.1, pp. 140-50.
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ASCE, SC-IKSP, Vol. 1,
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SOA report, Vol. I, pp. 85-95. ----
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Vol. 23, No. I, pp. 301-03.
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Cooe Penetrareter," Prec. 5th IC5NIT, Vol. I, pp. 523-26. For
nore detailed data se;e"'"Rotary Cale Pe;,etrorr-eter Investigations,"
U. S. Arrrrj Corps of Engineers, Waten;ays ExperiIrcnt Station,
Potarnology Investigatiens, Report 18-1, June, 1962.
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SM&FE, Plerto Rico, Vol. III, pp. 64-69.
Tavenas, F., 1972, Discussien in ASCE, J-SMfD, Vol. 98, SM-4, pp. 433-
----
Veismanis, A., 1974, Investigaticns of Electrical Friction-
cene Penetrareters in Sands," ESOPT, Stockholm, Vol. 2.2, pp. 407-
20. --
11 6
135
'''' SITU MI',ASLiKU11:Nl
Vesic, A. S., 1972, "i::xpansion of Cevities in Infinite Soil !-lass,"
ASCE, J-SMFD, Vol. 98, 51'1-,3, March, pp. 265-290.
Vesic, A. 5., 1975, ''Principles of Pile FOLllciation Design, Lecture 1,"
Lecture Series on Deep Foundations, Bostm Soc. of Civil Engi.-
neers, March-P.pri
Vijayvergiya, V., and J. Foche, Jr., 1972, "A New Way to Predict Capac-
ity of Piles in Clay," Offsoore Teclmology Ca'lference, Dallas,'
paper 1718.
Webb, D. L., and R. 1. Hall, 1969, "Effects of Vibroflotatim m Clayey
Sands," Ac:,CE, J-SMFU, Vol. 95, SM-6, Noverrber, pp. 1365-78.
Wineland, J. D., 1975, "The Borehole S'hear I:evice," ASCE, AS-IM5P,
Vol. 1, pp. 511-522.
Winter, E. and A. Rodriguez, 1975, "Evaluation of Precoosolidatim and
Friction Angle in Granular Soils Using the Pressurerreneer," ASa:,
SC-IHSP, Vol. I, pp. 523-535.
Wissa, A., R. T. Martin and J. E. Garlanger, 1975" '"!he Piezareter
Probe," ASCE, SC-L'15P, Vol. I, pp. 536-545.
Wroth, C. P., and J. H. O. Hughes, 1973, "M Jnstrurent for the In-situ
Measurerrent of tn: Properties of Soft Clays," Proc. 8th ICSMFE,
Vol. 1.2, pp. 487-494. ----
Wroth, C. P., and J. H. O. Hughes, 1974, '''i11e Developrrent of a Special
Inserunene for ehe In-sieu of the Strength and Stiff-
ness of Soils," paper presB1ted co the 1974 Engineering Fo.mdaeim
Ccnference, New Er.gland College, Ha"li1iker, N. H.
Zolkov, E., and G. Wisman, 1965, "Engineering P:operties of [Xne and
Beach Sands and ehe Influence of Seress History," 6th ICSMF1:,
K:Jntrea1, Vol. I, p. 134.
Zolkov, E., 1971, '"The SPI' and FOLlldation Practice in Fine Sands in
Israel," preprine submitted to AS1M for possible publication.
Zolkov, E., 1972, Discussim in ASCE, J-SMfD, Vol. 98, ii1-4, p. 436.
\
117
1:\ Sill) SIII'AI{ I{I.\t;TII JJ7
9. oorATION
overburden vertical effective stress
'"' standard bla.'Count fran SIT, in accord with AS'D1 D1586
bearing capacity factor for cohesive contributicn to bearing,
used herein to convert Clc to Su
N-values using N-rods and A-rods. respectively
N-values obtained with free fall of hamrer
bearing capacity factor to account for overburden effects
'"' bearing capacity factor
'"' abbrev. for nomally consolidated
abbrev. for overcoosolidated
for overcoosolidation ratio
BST c abbrev. for borehole shear test
c' 0= effective cohesioo
C
c
0= carpressioo index (consolidation)
CD 0= abbrev. for consolidated-drained
CPT '"' abbrev. for cooe penetration test, usually Q-CPr
au '"' abbrev. for consolidated-undrained
Dr c relative density (relative void ratio)
eo .. initial void ratio
E '"' energy input into peneuaticn, or Ymng's lIOdul.us
E
i
initial tangent nodulus
E+ 0= ave. uldrained Young's lIDdulus to failure
E- = ave. decreasing YOlrlg'S rrodulus after undrained failure
f
s
'"' mit frictioo 00 local friction sleeve in Q-CPr
FR = friction ratio. in per cent, = f/'lc na.' denote as R
f
G '"' undrained shear nodulus
GTr = abbrev. for ground water table
I
p
Atterberg plasticity Index
K' '"' ratio of insitu horizontal/vertical effective stresses for
o conditioo of zero horizootal strain
N
N
c

Nrr ..
N
q
N
l
NC
OC
OCR
p'
fit. = limit pressure from a PMr
Po '"' insitu total horizontal stress
P.E. potential energy
PM! '"' abbrev. for pressuremeter test
CIc '"' mit bearing on cooe in a Q-CPT
118
138 11' SIll'
<1u .. l.1'\confined cOivressive .. 2 su
Q-CPT .. abbrev. for quasi-static cone penetration test
R .. total resistance to penetration on SPT sartt>ler (also denoted F)
R
f
.. friction ratio, in per cent
s .. U'ldrained shear strength
u
St .. sensitivity .. Su (l1'1disturbed) /su (rem:>lded)
SPT .. abbreviation for standard penetration test
T = torque at failure in a VST
UU .. abbrev. for unconsolidated-undrained
VST .. abbrev. for vane shear test
V
o
.. initial volune of pressurerreter when p .. Po
t.V .. change in volUlE fran V
o
during a PMr
w water content
\.JF.S .. Waterways ExperilTent Station, Vicksburg, Hiss.
w
L
.. Atte.-berg liquid limit
Wp =Atterberg plastic liJ!ti.t
W
s
'"' shrlnkage limit ('oy slC7.1 drying)
= depth fran gr=d surface
1-0, 3-D" abbrev. for one dimensional, three dimensional
y .. total unit weight of soil
e: .. strain
}. .. an assured constant of proportionality
.. reduction factor to apply to Suv (fran Bjerrum)
v .. Poisson's ratio
Superscripts
Sir denotes average
I denotes effective stress
.. vane test, or volume v
"1 .. major principal stress
0
3
.. millor principal stress
.. octahedral norma1. effective stress (a nean effective stress)
.. effective stress angle of internal friction
.. 0' when voluretric strain .. a at maxi.nun strength in sands
Additional subscripts
e .. ends of vane cylinder
p .. vane penetration
PH! .. pressurerreter test
ps .. plane strain
R .. vane rotation
S .. side of vane cylinder
119
/
APPENDIX IV
EXAMPLES OF PILE CAPACITY CALCULATIONS
(Taken from Nottingham and Schmertmann, 1975)
~ o t e s to readers of Appendix IV
1. Sections 6.1 through 6.3 are attached for easy reference
to Chapter 7. The material in these sections has already
been presented elsewhere in the text.
2. Figure 6.1 appears as Figure 11 in the main text.
Figures 6.2 and 6.5 appear as Figure 12 in
Appendix III.
Equations 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3 appear as equation 5
of Appendix III.
3. Notation shown in this text may differ from the main
text.
120
o
CHAPTER 6
RECOMMENDED CPT PILE CAPACITY DESIGN PROCEDURES
6.1 Introduction
This chapter presents the author's recommendations for
using quasi-static cone penetration data to estimate the load
capacity of driven displacement piles. The recommendations are
based on an evaluation of the model and full-scale pile studies
described in the preceding chapters and are applicable to the
types of piles, penetrometers, and soils considered in this
study. The limitations of the recommended methods are further
discussed in Section 6.6.
6.2 Tip Bearing Capacity
Use the Begemann procedure illustrated in Fig 6.1 to
estimate the ultimate unit tip bearing capacity in both sands
and clays. If the mechanical penetrometer is used in clays,
the computed q value should be multiplied by 0.60 to account
for the possible increase in q resulting from friction on the
tip mantle. If the design is to be based on yield capacity
criteria, multiply the computed tip resistance by 0.73.
Pile capacities computed using this procedure are
affected by isolated very low q values which may not be
representative of actual soil c8nditions. Therefore, single
q values which are very low in relation to the surrounding
vglues should be ignored unless there is reason to believe that
the values are representative of actual weak soil layers, i.e.,
similar data from an adjacent sounding or soil samples which
indicate thin layers of weak soil.
It is customary in The Netherlands to place an upper limit
on allowable unit tip bearing capacity when CPT data are used
for design. This limit, usually between 50 and 150 tsf, is
intended to protect against grain crushing, long-term, high-
pressure creep, and other unknown factors affecting the behavior
of soils subjected to extremely high-pressure loading.
Schmertmann (1974c) has recommended using a maximum allowable
tip bearing capacity of 100 tsf for onshore design. This
recommendation should be followed unless data are available to
show that higher contact pressures are permissible. It should
be noted that this limitation applies to allowable unit bearing
capacity and will seldom be a serious limitation since piles
usually are not driven to such a high resistance.
Side Friction on Constant Section Piles
6.3.1 Granular Soils
Compute the ultimate side friction on constant section
piles using Eq 6.1 and the design curves in Fig 6.2.
121
o
2
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1
+
q
.
:
.
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q
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q
c
l

Q
c
2
q
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l
=
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e
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a
d
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3
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p
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6
.
2
-8B
F = K >
s
d
8B
f A' +
s s
L
L
d=8B
f A'
s s
(6. 1)
where
F
=
K
S
=
d
=
B
=
f
=

=
s
total ultimate side friction resistance
ratio of unit pile friction to unit sleeve friction
from Fig 6.2
depth to the f value being considered
pile width or
unit sleeve friction resistance
pile-soil contact area per f depth interval
s
The design curves in Fig 6.2 are the curves developed from
the model pile side friction analysis detailed in Section 4.3
and are the same as the curves presented in Figs 4.6 and 4.7.
The K factor is the ratio between unit sleeve friction and unit
pile friction. As pointed out in Section 4.3, the K factor
should be determined by computing LIB using the total embedded
pile length. A separate K factor should not be used for each
f
s
value.
Side friction calculations can be greatly simplified if
sleeve friction resistance does not vary significantly with
depth. For this case, Eq 6.1 can be simplified to Eq 6.2,
provided the pile length is equal to or greater than 8B.
(6.2)
where
average unit sleeve resistance over the depth interval
indicated by the subscript
= pile-soil contact area over the above 1
s
depth interval
If two or more sand layers are involved, Eq 6.2 can be
used by considering each layer individually as shown in Fig 6.3.
The K value used for a multi-layered system should be determined
using the total pile length and will, therefore, be the same
for each layer.
Note that Eqs 6.1 and 6.2 only incorporate a of
embedment correction at the ground surface. Schmertmann (1967)
and Freed (1972) recommended that a correction be made each
time the pile enters a stronger soil layer. Their recommendations
were based on the assumption that the CPT friction ratio
remains constant near layer interfaces and unit friction varies
in proportion to unit tip resistance, as shown in Fig 6.4.
Some CPT results are available, e.g., Schmertmann (1969), which
tend to substantiate this assumption; however, it is difficult
to draw any definite conclusions from these kinds of data, since
the normally used 20-cm cone sounding interval is approximately
equal to the 5 to 10B interval over which f would be expected
s
to vary.
124
f
s
1
A
*
T
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n
A
;
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}
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=
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;
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p
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\

:
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=
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(
f
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(
T
-
4
8
)
+
1
:
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6
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3
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6
.
.
4
The recommendation that depth of embedment corrections not
be made at-layer interfaces when computing pile side friction
is based on the following:
1. A lack of conclusive data to indicate such a correction
should be made.
2. The fact that not making this correction did not result
in any apparent large errors in the full-scale pile
capacity predictions presented in Chapter 5.
3. The possibility that unit pile friction just below
a layer interface may increase in the same manner as
near the ground surface. The increase which occurs
near the ground surface is reflected in the shape of
the K curves in Fig 6.2.
4. Smear effects resulting from soil being carried down
with the pile will mask layer boundary friction changes.
5. The desire to keep the prediction method simple and
easy to apply. The existence of a distinct, significant
interface is often difficult to decide and, in many
cases, different engineers would disagree as to
whether or not an interface actually exists. Eliminating
the correction at layer interfaces eliminates these
problems.
Pile friction predictions in sands can be based on q
data when sleeve friction resistance information is not a ~ a i l a b l e .
The calculations should be made by replacing f terms in Eq 6.1
(or 6.2) with 0.007 q and using the electrica! penetrometer
design curves in Fig g.2. This is equivalent to assuming an
average electrical penetrometer friction ratio of 0.70 percent,
which is a slightly conservative typical value for the sands in
this study and in most other areas of Florida. The 0.70 percent
FR value should be increased or decreased to better match
experience in other areas.
6.3.2 Cohesive Soils
Total ultimate side friction in cohensive soils should be
estimated using Eq 6.3 and the design curve in Fig 6.5.
F = a' f A
s s s
where
a' = ratio of pile to penetrometer sleeve friction in clay
Ts = average undrained sleeve friction
As = total soil-pile contact area
This recommendation is based primarily on the model pile
studies which showed that, of the currently available clay-pile
friction theories, Tomlinson's a-method provided the best
predictions.
127
c
o
C
\
J
2
.
0
1
.
5
(
k
g
/
c
m
2
)
1
.
0
P
e
n
e
t
r
o
m
e
t
e
r
S
l
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F
r
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c
t
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o
n
-
f
s
0
.
5
1
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4
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E
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F
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_
6
.
5
The a' curves shown in Fig 6.5 are identical to Tomlinson's
a curves as presented in tabular form in NAVDOCKS DM-7, except
that the a' curves are plotted as function of f
s
'
Additional full-scale pile capacity correlation studies
may show that the A (or A') method described in Chapter 4
provides better predictions; however, this method is not
recommended at this time because of the poor correlation
obtained during the model pile studies. Ultimately, a drained
friction approach to the clay-pile friction problem should be
adopted, but it appears that at this time it is impossible to
make sufficiently accurate predictions of the radial effective
stress acting on a pile driven in clay. Schmertmann's (1973)
suggested procedure for estimating radial effective stress,
coupled with additional CPT and pressuremeter research, may
provide the basis for an eventual solution to this problem.
Eq 6.3 is based on a limited amount of data which
indicate that f values obtained using either the electrical
or mechanical are a good approximation of undrained
shear strength of clays. Since the relationship has not been
proven for a wide variety of clays, undisturbed sampling and
strength testing should be performed whenever possible to check
the f -s ratio. This method should not be used for highly
clays. Also, mechanical penetrometer f data
should be reduced approximately 20 percent in harcr clays to
account for possible end bearing on the friction sleeve.
Eqs 6.4 or 6.5, applicable to electrical and mechanical
penetrometer data, respectively, can be used to estimate pile
friction in clays when f data are unavailable. The term
in these equations is (1972) field vane shear strength
correction factor, as shown in Fig 6.6.
(6.4)
1?0
(;.; )
"," _... _- .!... . _.- _---
, i
I
I O. 4 L..----'- --=-_-'--__--'
o '10 eo
Index
1.2
;1 o.n
BJERRUM'S FIELD VANE SHEAR STRENGTH CORRECTION CURVE
FIGURE 6.6
129
(6.5)
Whenever possible, pile friction should be estimated using
both Eqs 6.3 and 6.4 or 6.5 to determine a range of posssible
friction resistance. If the predictions provided by each
equation do not compare reasonably well, the undrained shear
strength of the soil should be evaluated by other means.
6.4 Tapered Pile Shaft Resistance
6.4.1 Step-Taper Piles
Compute total ultimate shaft resistance as the sum
of two independently determined components, friction on the
constant diameter sections and end bearing at the diameter
steps. The side friction component should be estimated using
the procedures recommended for constant section piles in
Section 6.3, with the following exception. In sands, the K
term for each constant diameter section should be determined
using the depth to which that diameter section extends. This
point is illustrated by the example problem in Fig 6.7.
Use Eq 6.6 to estimate the end bearing component at the
diameter steps.
=
L
steps
(6.6)
where
Q - total end bearing component of shaft resistance
step -
over the entire tapered pile length
S = ratio of q to unit step bearing resistance
A
step
= bearing arga at the diameter step
q ~ = average q value in the vicinity of the diameter
step c
The values of S which should be used in Eq 6.6 are contained
in Table 6.1. The mechanical penetrometer S value for clays
incorporates the 0.60 correction factor recommended in Section
6.2 to account for tip mantle friction. The two q values
occurring immediately above and below the step depth should be
used to compute q*; however, unusually high or unusually
low qc values shoSld be ignored.
TABLE 6. 1
S VALUES FOR ESTIMATING TAPERED PILE SHAFT RESISTANCE
Penetrometer Soil Type S
Electrical Sand 1.6
Clay 1.0
Mechanical Sand 1.6
Clay 0.6
130
r
Q
s
=
4
0
.
2
t
o
n
s
S
O
I
L
:
U
n
i
f
o
r
m
S
a
n
d
-
f
s
e
=
0
.
5
0
t
s
f
S
E
C
T
I
O
N
1
L
/
B
=
1
0
.
0
/
1
.
0
=
1
0
K
s
e
=
1
.
3
0
0
s
l
=

1
2
.
2
5
t
o
n
s
S
E
C
T
I
O
N
2
L
/
B
=
2
0
/
(
1
1
/
1
2
)
=
2
1
.
8
K
=
0
.
7
3
Q
s
z
=
{
0
.
7
3

=
9
.
1
6
t
o
n
s
S
E
C
T
I
O
N
3
L
/
B
=
3
0
/
(
1
0
/
1
2
)
=
3
6
K
=
0
.
7
0
Q
S
]
=
0
.
7
0
(
0
.
5
)
(
1
0
/
1
2
)
(
w
)
(
1
0
)
=
9
.
1
6

S
E
C
T
I
O
N
4
L
/
B
=
4
0
/
(
9
/
1
2
)
=
5
3
.
3
y
.

0
.
7
0

=
O
.
7
0
(
0
.
5
)
(
9
/
1
2
)
(
w
)
(
!
O
)
=
8
.
2
4
t
o
n
s
1
2
i
n
d
i
a
1
1
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n
d
i
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.
.
.
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.
.
.
.
-
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1
0
f
t
(
2
)
1
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f
t
I
(
3
)
1
-
1
0
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a
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.
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T
h
i
s

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s
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o
n
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y
.

b
e
c
o
m
-
p
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d
a
n
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d
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r
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p
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n
t
t
o

t
c
t
a
l
s
h
a
f
t
r
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s
i
s
t
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e
.
E
X
A
M
P
L
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O
F
S
T
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F
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N

F
I
G
U
?
E
6
.
7
6.4.2 Continuously Tapered Piles
The shaft resistance of piles with continuously tapered
sections, such as timber or monotube piles, can be estimated by
considering 'equivalent' step-taper piles and using the procedures
in Section 6.4.1. In estimating the side friction components,
diameter steps of the equivalent pile should be placed at layer
interfaces as illustrated by the example problem in Fig 6.8.
Experimental K curves for timber piles could not be
developed since model timber piles were not tested. The
recommendation for timber pile K values presented in Fig 6.2
was developed using the friction test data presented by
Nottingham (1975). The pipe pile K curve was used as a base
for the timber pile because both types of piles have the same
cross section shape. The results of tests by Potyondy (1961)
and Lingo (1962) indicated that the friction coefficient
between timber and soil is approximately the same as for smooth
concrete. Freed's (1973) data showed that the smooth concrete
friction coefficient was 29 percent higher than that for the model
pile steel. Combining Freed, Potyondy, and Lingo's results
indicates that the timber friction coefficient should be
approximately 1.3 times that for normal pile steel. The
recommended ratio of 1.25 was chosen to be slightly conservative,
since test data were not available to confirm the ratio inferred
from the shear test data.
The step bearing component should be estimated by considering
an 'equivalent' pile diameter step at each cone sounding depth.
This procedure can be simplified by constructing a graph of
pile step area per sounding interval (A .), noting the soil
layering as indicated by the CPT data, the following
equation:
Q =5i:s
q
A/.
step n cn s Sl
where
n = soil layer number
S = ratio of q to unit step bearing
c
gcn = average q for layer n
A
s
/
si
= average step area per sounding interval
(6.7)
for layer n
The step bearing component for the example problem in Fig 6.8
is completed in Fig 6.9 to illustrate this procedure.
6.5 Safety Factors
It is impossible to establish fixed safety factor criteria
for pile capacity design since the degree of safety appropriate
for each design depends on a large number of factors.
132
E
q
u
i
v
a
l
e
n
t
S
t
e
p
-
t
a
p
e
r
P
i
l
e
8
1
=
3
0
-
(
1
.
2
7
/
5
.
8
)
(
1
0
)
'
=
2
7
.
8
1
e
m
8
2
=
3
0
-
(
3
.
0
4
/
5
.
8
)
(
1
0
)
=
2
4
.
7
5
e
m
8
3
=
3
0
-
(
4
.
2
4
/
5
.
8
)
(
1
0
)
=
2
2
.
6
8
e
m
8
4
=
3
0
-
(
3
.
3
7
/
5
.
8
)
(
1
0
)
=
2
0
.
7
4
e
m
A
e
t
u
a
1
P
i
l
e
-
D
i
a
m
e
t
e
r
@
g
r
o
u
n
d
s
u
r
f
a
c
e
=
3
0
e
m
T
i
p
d
i
a
m
e
t
e
r
=
2
0
e
m
S
i
d
e
F
r
i
c
t
i
o
n
C
o
m
p
u
t
a
t
i
o
n
s
S
e
c
t
i
o
n
1
-
D
/
B
=
2
.
5
4
/
0
.
2
7
8
=
9
.
1
,
K
=
1
.
4
0
F
s
1
=
1
.

5
)
(
2
7
.
8
,
,
)
(
2
2
2
.
5
)
+
0
.
5
(
2
7
.
8
"
"
!
)
(
3
1
.
5
)
}

=
3
7
2
7
k
g
S
e
c
t
i
o
n
2
-
D
/
S
=
3
.
5
4
/
0
.
2
4
7
5
=
1
4
.
3
,
K
=
0
.
9
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9
CHAPTER 7
EXAMPLE DESIGN PROCEDURE APPLICATIONS
This chapter presents three example problems to illustrate
use of the recommended CPT pile capacity design procedure.
Fictitious CPT profiles were developed and used for Example Nos
1 and 2 to show application of the different aspects of the
recommended procedures, while Example No 3 shows capacity
calculations for Pile No 2 at the Jefferson County site. All
three examples use mechanical friction sleeve penetrometer data
to estimate capacities of 18-in square precast concrete piles
to correspond to the typical DOT application.
The different aspects of the design procedure illustrated
by Example Nos 1 and 2 are:
1. The soil profile for Example No 1 includes a sand layer at
the ground surface. This necessitates making a depth of
embedment correction when computing side friction resistance.
2. The Example No 2 soil profile includes clay at the ground
surface; thus, no depth of embedment correction for side
friction is necessary.
3. In Example No 1, the pile tip is embedded in sand while in
Example No 2, the tip is founded in clay. In computing
tip bearing capacity for Example No 2, it is necessary to
reduce the q values to account for possible penetrometer
tip mantle friction.
4. Layered soil profiles are used in both examples to show
side friction calculations for both granular and cohesive
soils.
The following sections present the pile capacity calculations
for each example and explain the details of the computational
procedure.
7.1 Example No 1
Fig 7.1 presents the CPT profile for this example and
pile capacity calculations are shown in Fig 7.2. End bearing
calculations were made using the procedure shown in Fig 6.1.
Calculations for q are shown for a number of x-values ranging
from 0.70 to 3.75 the averaging path that produced the minimum
q value is shown in Fig 7.1. Note that the q value at the
b8ttom point of the averaging path (Point B) ii included twice in
the qc1 computation and that the first qc value used in the qc2
averaging procedure cannot be greater than the last q value in
the (q ) . calculation In this example, and all f81lowing
of kg/cm
2
and tsf are used interchangeably. This
simplifies the problem of maintaining consistent units without
introducing appreciable errors.
135
5-
20-
30-
35-
45 -
12 40-
10
.. 17
r"'+-.L ..... L.

:iE
-":
r- ;:
-t+ "

; I
-+---;-'-f+.-
H-
; i I

'.-T-t-T'.....:......... ' .+' -+-1- ..
. t- I
-I- +-1H-'""r
4h , .... 'I I I
"Ya f---Go ".- I I
5Y& 0.30 5.4
l;/'lL 0.2'" 4.7 , : I :<{, I
I ,... , 1,-+
-.. '" I'ta. I , '" ; :
7 0-:44 . 3 i[ I I,
...... " 5.8 1\ I I
8}i oc.:, "0 I.l' I .J I I '.4

__ .. 6.6 1rt, .. ,'.i"f._' '.'.-'---.-!.. -f--j-fILJL*

. 0.5-0. .. 4'-';' r--"1 ....L.; - --;- II--rl'I'T*
.1..:..
2
...9.,_ D ,g.-- , , - I +H".l : '$' -J- .'
- "15 __ I I' T I .:1 I VJ.,
72 0."12 /.0 - I .-r'.: ,: I 'l/
1.3 I UtI. I . 1--:- +-;-.. -, I' ,,I
I:.. . - T "r 1-, I I - r.:N ., i+ +V ,rl
r--i} - 0 9 ; I' " T/: It) L.... ....,_
1.0 --.-:-r-, I I I I ' I 1.('
103 1.0.3 1.0 ,1 'i'-... .
110 1.32 1.2. I ' : I , '1f -i-!l'
107 I. I 7 I. ': I I 1 , :'1-: [I'
__ :'7 <- j-l :: ; 'f-- -' '- ... ,-+T
I/S 1.0) l tit-t I 1("1 ',; I.!..' I
-iO;;_...LS.7 /.5 ...LJt!)r' I I I , ! ' I E
108 1.19 /.' TT I "'.?.... ' --. "'T'""'TT" ::0..-
'....., I ';+1.5ti . Ii, "'""
1.84 1.7 I tW' I l'... Ii: :: I I I
I.' O. I."t ---r--T:.;.---t-; I , : I ii'
In 1.52. 1,3 I I I
Ill. !.22 I.,. :-r-t:::t. I , " :: I
'.95 .. J.; I , 'I ,
. .. 9 C. I, c.,' .,.......,....l.l ,- ..,. I ---
- -- I ! I I I: I I
1.20 1-; , I r'-.' I :' I I
.. !,3. 'l!' \7', I I "
L3'-_ Ii.... , !
---!--!P- _ I. I , 7 :
.. _ 1.2. 4-HH-+-f-+-,+,
I _I. ,,1.. _0.....2, t
'C.i 1'1
.-!-'! 7 . _ '11- -T-+-....
FIGURE 7.1
EXAMPLE NO 1 CPT LOG
136
PILE TYPE:
PILE LENGTH:
PI LE X-SECTION:
Prestressed
34 ft (lO.3E rn)
18 in (45.7 em) square
a 1
= 181 + 54 = 235 tons
10.5 + 20.5 + 23.0 = 54 tons
END BEARING CALCULATIONS
F 2 =
-5
LAYER 3:
F 3 =
-s
TOTAL SIDE FRICTION (F ) =
s
TOTAL PILE CAPACITY (P
u1t
)
(Qel)' = 102.9 kg/cm
2
(or tsf)
mln
D - 8B = 10.36 - 8(18)(2.54/100) = 6.70 m= upper 1imit of q 2 averaging
.(' .. ,c.t,o..... c
Qc2 = 0.6[8+2(7)+3(6ij} = 58.3 kg/cm
2
Qp = + 58.3) = 80.6 kg/cm
2
(or tsf)
Q
t
=Atqp = (1.5)2(80.6) = 181 tons
SIDE FRICTION CALCULATIONS Z
LAYER 1: F
5
= )0-88 )8B-J --- Eq 6.;/
- _ 2 -- 2
(f
s
)0_8B - 0.42 kg/cm ----- (f
s
)8B_L = 0.53 kg/cm -- 8B = 3.66 m
DIB = 34/1.5 = 22.7 ---- from Fig 6.2, K = 0.44
F
s1
= m)(3.28 ft/m)(6 ft
2
/ft) + 0.53(4.50-3.66)(3.28)(6U
10.5 tons
LAYER 2: F = a1f A ---f = 0.36 kg/cm
2
-- 0
1
= 0.85 from Fig 6.5
s 5 s s
0.85(0.36)(7.9 - 4.5)(3.28)(6) = 20.5 tons
F = Kf A" (Eq ----- f = 108 kg/cm
2
(or tsf)
s 5 S '1""' 5'
0.44(1.08)(10.36 - 7.9)(3.28)(6) = 23.0 tons
xB
10+ xB
c
calculation
?
x (m) (m)
Qc1 (kg/cm-)
--
-
(1.7 0.32 Y+[i /5 +- 3 ( lOS)] 107.5
1.0 0.% :O.oz.
[liS + : 05 + 2 ( lOS) + Z (I os)J 1011
0.(.9
78[: /5 +- / 0 S +- I 0 8 + 5 (9 9)]
-
1.5 110.5
=-=EY:
2.0 0.9/ 1/.27 )/,oL1/5 +105 + 108 t- 99 + z(loa)+
2.5 1.14 1'50 >;2 [II S +- I oS+- I 0 e 9 S + I 0 8 +- 2 (I I q.) + \ C S + CT('99)] lOS.'"
3.0 1.37 11.73 +- 105 t- 109 1" 1" 108 +- I 14 1. (117) +-1 + , 08 t- 4 (9'9)J
107. 7_
3.S I. GoO 11.9(0 /,''" [i /5 + 105 t- I 08 to 99 oj- I 08 + \ I q. +- 1\"7 t- 4 ( I 1/) + I 0 8 + <T (g 9) ]
101. I
3.75 1.7/ 12.07 +1\'7+111 +"'(IOS) +- 1\-(99)j 105.7
FIGURE 7.2
EXAMPLE NO 1 PILE CAPACITY CALCULATIONS
137
Side friction resistance in Layer 1 was calculated using
the simplified procedure represented by Eq 6.2. For comparison,
Layer 1 friction is computed using Eq 6.1 in Fig 7.3. The
difference in friction computed from these two equations is not
significant because sleeve friction variations are not large
between the ground surface and a depth of 88. If the sleeve
friction profile is erratic within this depth range, Eq 6.1
should be used. 80th Eqs 6.1 and 6.2 will produce the same
results below a depth of 88, thus Eq 6.2 was used for Layer 3
calculations. This equation is easier to use for hand calcula-
tions while Eq 6.1 is better suited to computer calculations.
As indicated in Fig 7.2, Layer 2 friction was computed using
Eq 6.3 and Fig 6.5.
7.2 Example No 2
The CPT log for this example is shown in Fig 7.4. The
soil profile consists of three main layers: an upper layer of
soft clay, a middle layer of sand, and a lower layer of stiff
clay. End bearing and side friction calculations are presented
in Fig 7.5. Note that in computing end bearing, the q data
in the stiff clay layer have been reduced by 0.6 to ac80unt for
possible tip mantle friction as recommended in Chapter 6. The
reduced q values are shown on Fig 7.4. Except for this q
the end bearing calculation procedure is identi8al
to that used for Example No 1.
End bearing calculations were again made for several
x-values between 0.70 and 3.75 to fully illustrate the design
procedure. After developing an understanding of the end
bearing computation method, it is usually possible to preselect
the averaging depth which will result in the minimum q 1
value and eliminate the calculations for other
In computing side friction, the upper clay layer (Layer 1)
has been subdivided into two layers (1a and 1b) because of the
large difference in f values above and below a depth of
1.5 m. Also, no of embedment correction was made since
the soil between the ground surface and a depth of 88 consists
of clay. The computed friction in Layer 4 has been reduced by
20 percent (by multiplying by 0.80) to account for possible
friction sleeve end bearing as recommended in Chapter 6. All
other side friction calculations were made in the same manner
as for Example No 1.
7.3 Example No 3
The CPT log for Pile No 2 at the Jefferson County site
is shown in Fig 7.6 and the pile capacity.calculations are
presented in Fig 7.7. When computing end bearing, the q 1
averaging depth interval that would produce the minimum &1
value was determined by inspecting the portion of the q c
profile between 0.70 and 3.758 below the pile tip. Thecreader
can verify that the q value computed is actually the
minimum value by perf8tming calculations for other x-values.
138
I
COMPUTE LAYER 1 SIDE FRICTJ.ON l.Q 6,.,l
8B L
(Fs)layer 1 = K + K
8B 3.
i
6 m ------ L = 4.50 m
D/B = 34/1.5 = 22.7 ----- from Fig 6.2, K=
(
(Eq 6./)
0.44
***
[---- r--
-f----------;:- --
; d d/8B
:5 P-, . .'.:. \ t ,,'1 ,.
"'l S. . : I
(In)
kg/em'- (em2) r i
-- -
-1
i O.;'G 0.05 0.34-
0.11 3 "'SS-*'*' 180
0.'"0 0.1" OAo 230
0.80 0.22 0.42 '!4-o
1.00 0.2.7 0.5'2. SIO
1.20 0.33 0.43 520
1.40 0.38 0.30 420
1."0 0,"" 4- 0.37
"o0
/.80 0.49 O.S""
1000
2.00 0.55 0,4\ 0 800
2.20 0.,"0
2.40 O.&{P
0.4'"
11/0
2.," 0 0 . ..,/ 0.31 810
2.80 0,77 0.52- 14,"0
3.00 O.Sz, 0043
3.20 o.a'7 O,4S 1430
3.",,0 0.45 ISSO 68,
3.'"0 0.98 0.34 Z 92 f&>*1ht- 9"70
14.230
0

-
0.53
3"58
19q.o
4.00
- 0.54 1980
4.20
-
0.52 1900
\...

- 0.54- 19E: 0
=
7800
e
D
* =0-30 em depth interval
** = 20 em depth intervals
= 3.50-3.66 mdepth interval
F = 0.44(14,230 + 7800) = 9690 kg (2.2/2000 ton/kg)
sl
= lO.7 ton.J..
FIGURE 7.3
EXAMPLE NO 1 SIDE FRICTION CALCULATIONS
139
NOTE:
CONE BEARING CAPACITY - qc (kg/cm
2
) FRICTION RATIO (%) DEPTH.
25 50 75 100 125 150_ 2 4 E ~
5-
,-I
20-
.
40
45
FIGURE 7.4
EXAMPLE NO 2 CPT LOG
140
The computed friction in Layer 1 was reduced by 20 percent
for the reasons explained in Section 7.2. The a' value of 0.25
used in the Layer 1 calculations.was chosen as a reasonable
minimum value of a' since the curve in Fig 6.5 does not extend
to very high f values. It was necessary to make a depth of
embedment c o r r ~ c t i o n when computing Layer 2 friction because
the top portion of this layer falls within a depth of 88
from the ground surface. This was accomplished by computing an
average d/8S correction factor for the top portion of this
layer and using a modified form of Eq 6.3. Friction in this
portion of the layer could also have been calculated using the
approach illustrated in Fig 7.3. Friction in Layer 3 was
computed in the same manner as Layer 1 friction.
The computed total pile capacity is slightly different
from the value reported in Table 5.1 because some of the design
factors included in the final design procedure recommendations
were generalized from the values developed from the model pile
study. The revised factors, primarily a' and the percent
reduction to account for tip mantle friction, are only slightly
different from the factors used in the previously reported model
and fUll-scale capacity analyses and their effect on computed
pile capacity is small.
141
PILE TYPE:
PILE LENGTH:
PILE X-SECTION:
Precast concrete
36 ft (10.97 m)
18 in (45.7 cm) square
END BEARING CALCULATIONS
xB D+xB
Calculation
qc1
x (m) (m)
Q
c
l
(kq/
cm2
1
0.7 0.3.2 11.29
33.0
1.0 0.",,"," 1/.43 Y", [32 +- 34 + 4(2.8)] 297
-
/.5 0."'9
II."'"
/8[32 + J4 tl + 5 (25)] 27.4
2.0 0.91 1'.88 :-ro[32+-34+2S+2S"''''(23J] 25.7
2.5 1.14- 12.11 Xz[j2 ,.34 .. 28+25 ... 23" 2(2"') .. 5(23)] 258
3.0 1.37 12.3+ k.[i 1 +-.14- + ZS .:26 .. ":I.) +- 2" + 2 (28) + 2. '" +S( .. 3)J 2'-.1
3.5
'-,"0 /2.57 k. [i 2. .. 34 ... 28 ... 25 ... z 1 + :Z" ..... ( z.e) + 2." ... 5" ( 2. 3)] 2G:.. "3
3.75 I. 71
112.,"8
/,'e[lZt:J4+Z8+:ZG ... 2J ... 2.'- +- 2(2.e)ot 2," of' 5 (-2.3)) 2..7.2
(qc1)min = 25.7 kg/cm
2
(or tsf)
o- 8B = 10.97 - 8(18)(2.54/100) = 7.31 m= Upper limit of Qc2 averaging
Qc2 = 1/18U2(23) + 4(22) + 2(18)] = 22.2 tsf
Qp = (25.7 + 22.2)/2 = 24.0 tsf Q
t
= (1.5)2(24.0) = 54.0 tons
-
SIDE FRICTION CALCULATIONS
LAVER 1: F
s
= o'fsA
s
(EQ 6.3) -- f
s
= 0.57 kg/cm
2
-- 0
1
= 0.70. from Fig 6.5
F
s1
= 0.70(0.57)(1.5 m)(3.28 ft/m)(4)(1.5) = 11.8 tons
LAYER 2: 1
s
= 0.17 kg/em
2
-- 0' = 1.07 (Embedded length = 4.9 - 1.5) = 3.4
1.07(0.17)(3.4 m)(3.28 ft/m)(4)(1.5) = 12.2 tons
- - 2
LAYER 3: F
s
= (EQ 6.2) -- f
s
= 0.39 kg/em
D/B = 36/1.5 = 24 -- K= 0.44 from Fig 6.2
0.44(0.39)(9.3 - 4.9 m)(3.28 ft/m)(4)(1.5) = 14.9 tons
LAYER 4: 1
s
= 2.35 kg/cm
2
-- 0 I = O. 38 re.dvc.-t:" n.
F
s4
= 0.38(2.35)(10.97 - 9.30 m)(3.28 ft/m)(4)(1.5)(0.80) = 23.5 tons
TOTAL SIDE FRICTION = 11.8 + 12.2 + 14.9 + 23.5 = 62.4 tons
-- -
TOTAL PILE CAPACIH(P
u
1t) =54.0 + 62.4 = 116.4 tons
FIGURE 7.5
EXAMPLE NO 2 PILE CAPACITY CALCULATIONS
142
FIGURE 7.6
EXAMPLE NO 3 CPT LOG
143
I
- ~
,
51
i
1
1
I
~
I
i
J
lei
~
;5 j
I
I
1
1
j
wi
-1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
'--r---
qc I f 5 F
R
CONE BEARING CAPACITY'- qc (kg/cm
2
) FRICTION RATIO on DEPTH.
kg/cm
2
100 200 300 2 4 E
... j . I '1; ,-1':, ...
:Jz..,-.:.. 290' :.: .. -- I' :i" -;.:: I': : ;';-, ..'.: :;:.:.t:.l!_:-tr.!'....... ...
S8 /.98 "4/ _. ........... - .. _... . , ..; r :-1 .. -:.... ... :r-:,---J- ......
7"...-- 79B- z:-", " . .. .' . . L' . . .
2 31 42.B . -'.'m
1
'-" ., ..._- ..- .!....0. '7'\ ...... Lu:::i: .
se- il'- '_1-.,.. f-i .; ..-1
1
- '.- :;-!-H-J.IHc..!- 1f/ -; rtz
"'\ I 72 -:- , '..L" Li-
J
' -t-r-\'jfL-.-4-:-
L
1'J I ;"/' :c.."'t:-r'- 'r"'"
,,;, '.72 Z 2... - 1 . - - .. '-r--...,-" -' . - - . 77---' ,.:
......--- . I .' '. ". I I " . -_ ,- .,-,.
I 98 2 30 r I 't --f-,-, -, . . 1 U " / 'T r.-i+'- ,..,....
100 Z 5 2.5 I "l---"i' . ,,'r' :.. ...l ' ill' :".l_i- .. -1- 8: ... -. -:- ....... .....,.
:- +-' ,-. ' , " +++ I", , ' . ,- .
1.:>8. 2 77 2. 5? .- -.,. . -H-.,.-r-, - -. '-'-,.... -+'--
.14- 2.77 --r:-- ..........:.....!-rt-).-7- . %' .
08- :2 -0 : ' , , " . f-W---: ...1.-9-0',-' ... -::;;:L. -
'-'. - 9 ""; :, I" '----:'1 1 I r ...., I r
NOTE:
FIGURE 7.6 (continued)
EXAMPLE NO 3 CPT LOG
144
END BEARING CALCULATIONS
From of the qc log. (qcl)min will occur when averaging qc
between the tip depth and 11.65 m (approximately 0 + 1.0B)
qc1 = 1/10[26.4 + 44.4 + 33.6 + 30.6 = 27.9 kg/cm
2
Qc2 =24.0 kg/cm
2
since no Q
c
value for 88 above the tip is
less than the last value used in computing qcl
Qp = + 24.0) = 26.0 kg/cm
2
(or tsf)
Q
t
=Atqp = (1.5)2(25.0) = 58.5 tons
SIDE FRICTION CALCULATIONS:
LAYER 1: F =a'f A ---- f =5.81 kg/cm
2
--- a
l
= 0.25
5 5 5 S
F
s1
= 0.25(5.81)(2.25 m)(3.28 ft/m)(6 ft
2
/ft)(0.80) = 51.4 tons
LAYER 2: A depth of embedment correction must be made between the too
Qf this layer (2.25 m) and a depth of 38 (3.66 m). This
correction will be made by computing an average depth of
ciI1bedment correction fae tor for thi s depth i i .
(d/8B)2.25 m = 2.25/3.66 = 0.61
{d/8B)3.66 = 1.00
(d/SS) = + 1.0C) = 0.80
avg
D/B = 30/1.5 = 20 K= 0.44 f = 3.80 kg/cm
2
s
F =0.44(0.80)(3.80)(3.66 - 2.25)(3.28)(6) = 37.1 tons
oc=sc.a
- 2
From 3.66 to 6.05 m, f
s
= 1.48 kg/em
F
S2b
= = 0.44(1.48)(6.05 - 3.66)(3.28)(6) =
LAYER 3: ( 6. 05 - 9. 14 m)
F = a'f A
5 S S
- 2
f
s
=2.23 kg/em ----- a' = 0.18
F
s3
= 0.38(2.23)(9.14 6.05)(3.28)(6)(0.80) = 41.2 tons
TOTAL SIDE FRICTION (F ) = 160.3 tons
s'
TOTAL PILE CAPACITY (P
ult
) 218.8 tons
FIGURE 7.7
EXAMPLE NO 3 PILE CAPACITY CALCULATIONS
145
"'U.S. GOVERNMENT PRISTING OFFICE: 1978-261-264n04