A laboratory-based study correlating cone penetration test resistance to the physical parameters of uncemented sand mixtures and granular soils

Abstract

The influences of gradation curve properties and particle shape on the cone penetration test (CPT) resistances of normally consolidated clean sand under different relative densities were studied. The proposed empirical correlations were developed based on the experimental results of a laboratory CPT using an axisymmetric field simulator. The tests were performed on 18 different gradations of disturbed and premixed clean sands and 25 different gradations of fully spherical glass beads. The gradation curves and particle shapes of the tested sands were developed using laser scanning and image analyses. For a constant relative density, it was demonstrated that while the cone penetration tip resistance and the sleeve friction were slightly positively related to the mean grain size, they were significantly positively related to the uniformity coefficient and negatively related to the two-dimensional angularity of particles. A comparison between the trend in behavior of the current proposed empirical formulas with the frequently used empirical equations formulated in terms of relative density was presented. The applicability and limitations of the proposed relations were verified on a large dataset from the literature and on highly accurate field data of two sites in Canada.