Geotechnical Testing Methods II

Ajanta Sachan
Assistant Professor
Civil Engineering
IIT Gandhinagar

FIELD TESTING

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 Field Test (In-situ Test)

 When it is difficult to obtain “undisturbed” samples.

In case of Cohesionless soils, Sensitive clays, etc.
 Advantage:
 Testing on natural soil under undisturbed
conditions
 Disadvantage:
 Testing conditions are not controlled

 Time dependent phenomenon are difficult to

control due to large scale
 Measurements/instrumentation is tricky and
rather a difficult task

Field Test (In-situ Test)

 In-situ shear strength tests

 Standard Penetration Test (SPT)
 Cone Penetration Test (CPT)
 Dynamic Cone Penetration Test (DCPT)
 Vane Shear Test (VST)
 Dilatometer Test (DMT)
 Pressure meter Test (PMT)
 Settlement test
 Plate Load Test

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 Common In Situ Testing Devices

SPT

VST PMT DMT

DCPT CPT

In bore holes 5

IS: 2131-1981
Standard Penetration Test

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 Standard Penetration Test
 Components
 Drilling Equipment
 Inner diameter of hole  100 to 150 mm
 Casing may be used in case of soft/non-cohesive soils
 Split spoon sampler  IS:9640-1980
 Drive weight assembly
 Falling Weight = 63.5 Kg
 Fall height = 75 cm
 Others  Lifting bail, Tongs, ropes, screw jack, etc.
 Procedure
 The bore hole is advanced to desired depth and bottom is cleaned.
 Split spoon sampler is attached to a drill rod and rested on bore
hole bottom.
 Driving mass is dropped onto the drill rod repeatedly and the
sampler is driven into soil for a distance of 450 mm. The number of
blow for each 150 mm penetration 7are recorded.

Standard Penetration Test

 Procedure (Cont….)
 N-value
 First 150 mm penetration is considered as seating penetration
 The number of blows for the last two 150 mm penetration are
added together and reported as N-value for the depth of bore
hole.
 The split spoon sampler is recovered, and sample is
collected from split barrel so as to preserve moisture
content and sent to the laboratory for further analysis.
 SPT is repeated at every 750 mm or 1500 mm interval
for larger depths.
 Under the following conditions the penetration is
referred to as refusal and test is halted
a) 50 blows are required for any 150 mm penetration
b) 100 blows are required for last 300 mm penetration
c) 10 successive blows produce no advancement

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 Precautions during SPT

 The ht. of free fall Must be 750 mm

 The fall of hammer must be free, frictionless and vertical
 Cutting shoe of the sampler must be free from wear & tear
 The bottom of the bore hole must be cleaned to collect
undisturbed sample
 When SPT is done in a sandy soil below water table , the
water level in the bore hole MUST be maintained higher
than the ground water level.
Otherwise: QUICK condition!!
Very Low N value

SPT Corrections
Correction for Overburden Pressure :
N '  CN . N
N' = Corrected value of
observed N
CN = Correction factor for
overburden pressure

Peck, Hanson and Thornburn

(1974)

p' = Effective overburden pressure at a depth

corresponding to N-value measurement

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 SPT Corrections
Correction for Overburden Pressure : (Alternative)

Correction for Dilatancy :

If the stratum consists of fine sand and silt below water table, for N' > 15,
the dilatancy correction is applied as

[ ]
Alternative -

SPT Hammer Energy Correction

 Energy is dissipated in some fraction during the impact, and the
output energy is usually in the range of 50% to 80% of energy input.

Eout
 For rope pully system with safety hammer  60%
Ein

 The N-value is standardized for 60 % energy output. For other

hammers, the N-value may be corrected in ratio of their energy
input

N60 
 Eout Ein  %
.N
60
 Although IS 2131-1981 is silent on this issue, the correction may be
applied as per the requirement of the project.

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 SPT Test Data

No. of blows per 0.30m

Data from different bore holes

Interpretation from SPT: Cohesionless Soils

N'' f' Dr (%) consistency

0-4 25-30 0-15 very loose

4-10 27-32 15-35 loose

10-30 30-35 35-65 medium

30-50 35-40 65-85 dense

>50 38-43 85-100 very dense

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 Interpretation from SPT: Cohesive Soils
not corrected for overburden cu  6.25.N in kPa
N cu (kPa) consistency visual identification
0-2 0 - 12 very soft Thumb can penetrate > 25 mm

2-4 12-25 soft Thumb can penetrate 25 mm

4-8 25-50 medium Thumb penetrates with moderate effort

8-15 50-100 stiff Thumb will indent 8 mm

15-30 100-200 very stiff Can indent with thumb nail; not thumb

>30 >200 hard Cannot indent even with thumb nail

Mayne and Kemper (1988) 0.689

N
OCR  0.193  
 p' MN/m2

Cone Penetration Test (CPT)

IS: 4968 (Part –III)

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 CPT Procedure
 Push the sounding rod with cone into the ground for some specified
depth. Then push the cone with friction sleeve for another specified
depth (> 35 mm). Repeat the process with/without friction sleeve.
 Pushing rate = 1 cm/s
 Mantle tube is push simultaneously such that it is always above the
cone and friction sleeve.
 Tip Load, Qc = Load from pressure gauge reading + Wt. of cone +
Wt. of connecting sounding rods
Qc
 Tip resistance  qc 
Ac x-sectional area off cone = 10 cm2
 With friction sleeve  add its self weight as well  Qt = Qc + Qf
Qt  Qc
 Frictional resistance  q f 
Af surface area of friction sleeve

qf 10%
fr  Cohesive
 Friction Ratio  Typical range 
qc Granular
17 0%

CPT Results
& Soil
Classification

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 Typical
CPT Data

CPT Cone Resistance, qc1 SPT Blow Count, N1(60) Relative Density, Dr
Interpreted
(MPa) (Blows/300 mm) (%)
Soil Profile
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 0 10 20 30 0 20 40 60 80 100
0
Fine Sand
w/ Shells
1
(SP)

2
Depth Below Excavated Surface (m)

Interbedded
3 Fine Sand
and
Silty Sand
4
(SP-SM)

6 Fine Silty
Sand
(SM)
7

8
Gray Silty
Clay (CL) Mean
Mean-SD From CPT
9
Mean+SD From SPT
Sand (SP)
10

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 CPT Profile for Piezocone
Cone Tip
Interpreted Soil Profile Resistance, q c Fricton Ratio, F r Pore Pressure, u Relative
EQ Drain Test Area 1 (MPa) (%) (kPa) Density, D r
0 2 4 6 8 1012 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 -100 0 100 200 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
0
Sand
1
2 Silty sand/sand

3
Silt and Sandy
4
Silt
5
6
Depth (m)

7
8

9
10 Sand to
Silty Sand
11
12
13
14
15

CPT Versus SPT

 CPT: Advantages over SPT

 provides much better resolution, reliability
 versatility; pore water pressure, dynamic soil
properties

 CPT: Disadvantages
 Does not give a sample
 Will not work with soil with gravel
 Need to mobilize a special rig

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 Dynamic Cone Penetration Test (DCPT)
 Components: IS: 4968 (Part – I, II)
1) Cone (dia = 50 mm)
~usually made of steel

2) Driving rods/drill
rods
~marked at every 100 mm
Hollow (split spoon)
SPT

DCPT

Solid (no samples)

DCPT Procedure
 Cone – drill rod – driving head assembly is installed
vertically on the ground and hammer is dropped from
standard height repeatedly

 The blow counts are recorded for every 100 mm penetration.

A sum of three consecutive values i.e. 300 mm is noted as the
dynamic cone resistance, Ncd at that depth.

 The cone is driven up to refusal or the project specified depth.

 In the end, the drill rod is withdrawn. The cone is left in the
ground if unthreaded or recovered if threaded.
 No sample recovered
 Fast testing – less project cost / cover large area in due time
 Use of bentonite slurry is optional, which is used to reduce
friction on the driving rods.
• Modified cone is used in this case: diameter = 62.5 mm

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 Vane Shear Test (VST)
measuring (torque)
 For clays, and mainly for soft clays.
head
 Measure torque required to quickly
shear the vane pushed into soft clay.
bore hole

 undrained

torque  undrained shear strength cu

h2d  Typical d = 20-100 mm.
vane

soft clay

vane
25

Vane Shear Test Interpretation:

Undrained shear
strength -

2.T
cu 
 .D 2 .H .
D
  1
3.H

For H = 2.D
T
cu  0.273
D3

Test in Progress Failure surface

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 Dilatometer Test (DMT)
 Insert DMT using SPT
drilling equipment to the
desired depth and pressure
the cell
 Measure pressure when the
membrane is flushed with
plate and when it enters
ground by 1.1 mm.
 Decrease the pressure &
measure the pressure when
membrane is again flushed
with plate. 60 mm dia.
Flexible
membrane
 Determined:
 Elastic Modulus
 Soil Type and state
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Pressure meter
Test (PMT)

Determined:
Elastic Young Mod, E
Shear Mod, G
Undrained shear strength, Su

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 Pressure meter Test (PMT)

Measurements:
1. Fluid Pressure
2. Fluid volume change

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Plate Load Test

This test is used to estimate the
Elastic Modulus and Bearing
Capacity of soils which are not
easily sampled.

Bearing Capacity Estimation: The

load is applied such that the rate of
penetration remains constant. A
load-settlement curve is produced.
Equations have been developed to
obtain undrained shear strength
from ultimate bearing capacity.
Modulus Estimation: The load is
applied to the plate in increments of one
fifth of the design load. Time-settlement
and load-settlement curves are then
produced to estimate modulus of soil
from the test results.

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 ROCK TESTING

Rock Testing

 Unconfined Compression Test

 Brazilian Test
 Point Load Test
 Direct Shear Test
 Slake Durability Test
 Schmidt Rebound Hardness Test
 Sound Velocity Test
 In-situ stress measurements in rocks

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 Specimen Preparation Equipments for
Rock Testing
Rock Core sizes:
EX = 21.46 mm
AX = 30.10 mm
BX = 42.04 mm
NX = 54.74 mm
More: 35mm, 50mm,
75mm, 100 mm

Core cutting &

grinding machine:
Cutting and grinding Core drilling machine:
cylindrical rock specimens Rock core preparation
core size: EX to NX For regular and irregular
Samples.
core size: EX to 100mm
Polishing & Lapping machine

Rock Samples

Granite:
High stiffness
High strength
Very brittle
Limestone:
Medium stiffness
Medium strength
Medium brittleness
Shale:
Low stiffness
Low strength
Ductile

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 Unconfined Compression Test

 This test is performed to obtain

the unconfined compressive
strength (UCS) of intact rock
cores (slenderness ratio = 2).
 UCS is the maximum stress that
that rock specimen can sustain.
 Rock specimen is kept in a
loading frame, and if required
heated to the desired test
temperature.
 Axial load is continuously
increased on the specimen until
peak load and failure are
obtained.

Brazilian test: Tensile strength of Rock

 Brazilian test is performed to obtain the

tensile strength of rock mass.
 Tensile strength of rock is imp to know
for drilling, blasting of rocks, failure of
roof and floor of tunnels, chambers &
underground roadways; often weak
rocks fail in tension exhibiting splitting
mode of failure.
 In this test, a disc/cylinder is subjected
to a line load, and fracture should
initiate at the centre and progress
towards periphery. If opposite, the test
is discarded as considered that it did
not fail in tension.

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 Point Load Test: compress. strength of irregular rock sp.

 When regular cores could not be obtained;

only irregular pieces are available from
the rock excavation, Point load test is
performed to obtain the compressive
strength of rock mass.
 The roughly chiseled spherical mass with
dia. ranging between 30-50 mm is tested
between two hard conical tips in a rigid
frame.

Direct Shear Test:

Normal stress versus Shear stress response of rock mass

 It measures peak and residual direct shear strength as a function of

stress normal to the sheared plane.
 It can be used for testing for both: core & lump specimens.
Shear box size: 300mm x 300mm x 100mm

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 Triaxial Shear Test:
shear strength parameters (c, f) of rock mass

 Triaxial cells for testing rocks are

designed to withstand a confining
pressure 150 Kg/cm2.
 Mostly triaxial tests on rock
specimens are performed under no
volume change conditions.
 Stress-strain curve is obtained using
deviator stress and axial strain. The
modulus and failure deviator stress
are estimated. Shear strength
parameters (c & f ) are calculated
adopting similar methods as in soils
 If the strain gauges are attached to
measure the lateral strain, poisson’s
ratio (n) also can be obtained.

Slake Durability Test:

Resistance of rock mass to disintegration during wetting-drying

 Rock fragments of known

weight placed in rotating drum
apparatus, and rock pieces
(approx 10 pieces, each 40-60gm
weight) are circulated through
wet and dry cycles.
 Re-weigh the rock fragments to
determine the slake durability
index (SDI).
 Mostly, this test allows the rock
mass to get exposed up to two
cycles of wetting and drying.

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 Schmidt Test: Hardness of rock

 Schmidt test is performed

to determine the rebound
hardness of rock.
 The plunger of the hammer
is pressed against the
specimen and the height of
rebound of the plunger on
a scale is taken as the
measure of hardness.

Sound Velocity Test: P & S-wave velocity of rocks

 It is non-destructive test and performed to determine the

velocity of elastic wave propagation through rock in the
laboratory.
 slenderness ratio used for the test is usually 3. Test can be
conducted on dry, moist or saturated specimens.
 A transmitter and a receiver are attached at sides of rock
specimen (a thin layer of grease is applied on the
specimen’s ends to have proper contact with transducers).
 The energy transmission between the transducers
(transmitter and receiver) is used to determine the
velocities of P and S wave.

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In-situ stress measurements in rocks

In-situ stress measurements in rocks:

Testing methods on Field

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In-situ stress measurements in rocks:
Flat Jack Test

In-situ stress measurements in rocks:

Hydrofracturing Test

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Thank You

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