DOI 10.

1007/s11204-018-9520-6
Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Vol. 55, No. 3, July, 2018 (Russian Original No. 3, May-June, 2018)

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS

EVALUATION OF UNDRAINED SHEAR STRENGTH OF CLAY

USING THE CPTU PORE PRESSURE METHOD

UDC 624.131.38
Xuepeng Li, Guojun Cai*, Songyu Liu
Southeast University, Institute of Geotechnical Engineering, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China;
*
The corresponding author.

Difficulties in obtaining high-quality undisturbed soil samples have necessitated the

increased use of cone penetration test (CPT) or piezocone penetration test (CPTU) to
determine soil properties at geotechnical engineering sites. Undrained shear strength (a
key parameter for most clay investigations) traditionally is evaluated by cone tip resis-
tance or effective cone tip resistance. In this paper a method of using the clay's excess
pore pressure was used to estimate the undrained shear strength. A correlation of pore
pressure ratio and cone factor was discovered and compared with results from the pub-
lished literature and with those from field vane tests.

Introduction
The difficulty in obtaining undisturbed samples of clay has placed increasing reliance on in-situ
testing for evaluating geotechnical properties [1, 2]. For this reason, it is very important to improve in-
situ testing theory and to develop new methods that optimize designs for geotechnical engineering [3].
As a particularly effective method for evaluating undrained shear strength, the piezocone penetration test
(CPTU) has several advantages over laboratory tests [4]. First, the CPTU is relatively simple to perform
and its easy of application makes the test popular. Second, the test provides a continuous strength pro-
file including values for the clay's pore pressure. This is of great importance for investigating the influ-
ence of variations of undrained shear strength (Su) with depth. Last but not the least at some sites, the
extremely low shear strength of the material (such as soft clay) prohibits sampling for other tests like
laboratory strength tests [5]. However, CPTU cannot measure some soil properties, like Su, directly.
Therefore, the correlations between the desired soil properties and CPTU need to be established more
clearly [6].
Some of the published research on using CPTU method on clay has been discussed. This paper
focused on the relationship between cone data and Su [7]. There are two main methods for evaluating Su,
one based on theoretical solutions and the other based on empirical correlations. The theoretical solu-
tions mainly include theories based on the classical bearing capacity theory, cavity expansion theory,
strain path analysis, conservation of energy combined with cavity expansion, and analytical and numer-
ical approaches using linear and non-linear stress-stain relationships [8]. All the theoretical solutions are
based on the relationship between measured cone resistance (qc) and Su (qc = NcSu + σ0, where Nc is the
theoretical cone factor, and σ0 is the in situ total stress) [9]. The empirical approaches for determining
Su from CPTU data can be grouped into three categories: net cone resistance (qt − σ0, where qt is cor-
rected cone resistance), excess pore pressure (Δu), and effective cone resistance (qe). For evaluating Su,

Translated from Osnovaniya, Fundamenty i Mekhanika Gruntov, No. 3, p. 13, May-June, 2018.
©
0038-0741/18/5503-0162 2018 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
162
determining the cone factors using several measurements is very important. The cone factors corre-
sponding to the three empirical approaches just mentioned are the theoretical cone factor (Nk), the effec-
tive cone factor (Nke), and the pore pressure cone factor (NΔu) respectively. The objective of this paper is
to estimate the value of Su using the Δu method at a site in Ningbo, China. To verify the results from
the Δu method, additional data for Su from field vane tests (FVT) are compared.

CPTU Penetration Theory

When the piezocone is penetrated into the clay, the excess pore pressure can be divided into two
main components: octahedral normal stress induced pore pressure (Δuoct), and shear stress induced pore
pressure (Δushear). Based on the theory of cavity expansion and the critical state framework, Δu during
penetration can be expressed as [10]

Δu = Δuoct + Δushear, (1)

Λ
2 ⎛ OCR ⎞
where Δuoct = Mσ v′ ⎜ ln I r , (2)
3 ⎝ 2 ⎟⎠
Λ
⎛ OCR ⎞ (3)
Δushear = σ v′ [1 − ⎜ ],
⎝ 2 ⎟⎠

where M is the slope of the critical state line; σ'v is the vertical effective stress; OCR is overconsolida-
tion ratio; Ir is the rigidity index; and Λ is compressibility ratio (Λ = 1 − Cc/Cr); Cr is the recompres-
sion index and Cc is the compression index.
According to the above theory, the normalized excess pore pressure (Δu/σ'v) can be expressed as

Δu (2 3)M ln (I r )[OCR 2]
Λ
1 − [OCR 2]Λ (4)
= + ,
σ v′ 1 + 50T ∗ 1 + 5000T ∗

where T* is the corrected dimensionless time factor:

ch t
T∗ = , (5)
a ( I r )0.75
2

where a is cone radius; ch is horizontal coefficient of consolidation; t is the dissipation time.

Excess Pore Pressure Method

Based on the theoretical and semi-theoretical approaches, a method of using Δu to estimate Su
has been proposed [11]:
Δu
Su = , Δu = u2 − u0 . (6)
N Δu
According to the cavity expansion theory, the value of NΔu is in the 2-20 range. Lunne [12]
reported the value of NΔu ranged from 4-10 based on consolidated-undrained triaxial compression test on
soft soil. The same range has also been reported for offshore soft clay [13].

Sites Description
The Ningbo test site (Zhejiang province, China) on an alluvial plain is relatively flat. A wide
range of mucky soil and soft clay is widely distributed. The special distribution is a thick layer of soft
soil with an equivalent shear wave velocity of more than 90 m/s.
The characteristic are obtained from laboratory tests: thickness is 23 m, gravity density γ = 16.9 kN/m3,
specific gravity d s = 2.73; the water content w n = 44.5%, w p = 21.3%, and w i = 38.5%; plastic limit
I p = 17.2; and OCR = 0.9-1.1.

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 Fig. 1. A typical soil profiles from CPTU at the Ningbo site showing qt, fs, Rf, u2, and OCR.

For this study, the correlations are determined by comparing the penetration resistance measured
by CPTU to strength data measured from FVT at the same depth. This approach helps to minimize the
influence of variations in the soil on the correlations.

Test Equipment and Procedures

The CPTU test equipment consists of a hydraulic pushing and leveling system, cone penetrome-
ters, 1 m long segmental rods, and a data acquisition system. This study uses a cone with 10 cm2 cross
sectional area, 150 cm2 sleeve friction surface area, 35.7 mm cone bottom diameter, and 5 mm compo-
nent thickness at the u2 location (5 mm behind the base) [14]. It is necessary to saturate the porous fil-
ter so as to obtain the most accurate pore pressure measurements. To eliminate variability and errors
during testing, all tests were conducted by a group of operators using the same methods in clays of
quite similar geological conditions. All tests were supervised by same person. Data from CPTU test are
collected every 50 mm, and the penetration rate is 20 mm/s.

Results and Discussion

Because the soil at Ningbo site is unconsolidated to normally consolidated, Eq. (1) is appropri-
ate for evaluating Su. Although Lunne [15] has shown that the value of sleeve friction (fs) is commonly
less reliable and accurate than corrected cone resistance (qt) and u2 (pore water pressure in u2 position),
generally more reliable soil classification can be made using all three pieces of data (qt, fs, u2). Figure 1
shows typical soil profiles from CPTU investigation at the Ningbo site with the value of qt, fs, and fric-
tion-resistance ratio (Rf), u2, and OCR. The profiles show that the soft soil is about 23 m thick. The cor-
rected cone tip resistance (qt) of the soft clay is very low (about 0.3 MPa), which reflects the clay's low
strength. The pore water pressure (u2) increases with the depth in the clay layer, but it decreases signif-
icantly in the silty sand layer. The OCR is estimated from oedometer tests on high quality 75 mm diam-
eter piston samples [16].
Figure 2 shows typical pore pressure dissipation curves for the Ningbo site. The initial pore pres-
sures at depths of 5, 10, 15, and 20 m are 177.9, 328.9, 477.7, and 582.9 kPa, respectively. The excess
pore pressure, u2-u0, can be calculated. The pore pressure dissipation shows a monotonically decreasing
response with time, so it is thought that the Ningbo site offers ideal conditions for evaluating the value
of Su using the traditional excess pore pressure method.

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 Fig. 2. Typical pore pressure dissipation curves for four different depths.

Fig. 3. Relationship between Su and u2-u0 in clay soils.

Fig. 4. Graph showing NΔu versus depth.

As shown in Fig. 3, there is quite a good linear relationship between Su and u2-u0

u2 − u0 u2 − u0
Su = = . (7)
N Δu 8.8
Figure 4 is a graph showing NΔu versus depth at the Ningbo test site. The graph shows that most
of the NΔu values fall in the 7-11 range (the dashed lines in Fig. 4). The average NΔu value at the Ning-

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 Fig. 5. The range of Bq and NΔu values for clay soils.

TABLE 1
Su values (kPa) from
Depth (m)
CPTU FVT FVT remold
5 20.36 16.32 8.21
10 31.13 35.33 14.32
15 34.98 38.01 15.36
20 42.48 46.31 18.69

bo site is 8.8. Figure 5 shows the range within which values for pore pressure ratio (Bq) and NΔu at the
Ningbo site fall (the solid lines in the figure) along with values for six test sites from the literature (the
Leirsund, Eidsvoll, Lierstranda, Bothkennar, Emmerstad, and Onsoy sites, [17]). The upper and lower
limits for the range of Bq and NΔu values from [12], are also shown. Clearly, the upper and lower Bq−NΔu
limits [12] are quite similar to the limits determined from the Ningbo data.
Values for Su determined by CPTU and FVT at different depths at the Ningbo test site are shown
in Table 1. The FVT were conducted at 5, 10, 15, and 20 m depths. Both the intact soft soils and
remold soft soils are measured by FVT. The data show that the Su values from CPTU and FVT for
intact soil are very similar, and the Su values of remold soil from FVT are much smaller than those of
intact soil from CPTU and FVT at the test site.

Conclusion
CPTU is an effective technology for evaluating the undrained shear strength of clay. The excess
pore pressure method is straightforward for estimating the undrained shear strength in unconsolidated to
normally consolidated clay. A linear relationship between undrained shear strength and excess pore pres-
sure is proposed, and the pore pressure cone factor NΔu revealed by that relationship is about 8.8 for the
Ningbo test site. Furthermore, a correlation between pore pressure ratio Bq and NΔu is also demonstrated
for unconsolidated to normally consolidated clay at the Ningbo site. The results for the excess pore
pressure method, Δu, by CPTU are verified by FVT.

Acknowledgments
The majority of the work presented in this paper was funded by the National Key R&D Program
of China (2016YFC0800200), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.41672294).

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