A new protocol for measuring small strains with a pressuremeter probe: Development, design, and initial testing

Abstract

Soil characterization plays a key role in the construction of various civil engineering infrastructures. For the purpose of developing a geotechnical design model, it is essential first to describe the behavior of natural soil masses before proceeding to the calculation of a structure. The use of numerical modeling for solving soil-structure interaction problems is a crucial prerequisite; these problems can be solved properly just by measurement of small-strain stiffness and the stiffness degradation curve of soils. To meet these needs, the present paper starts by introducing the concept of a new pressuremeter probe equipped with a Hall Effect sensor that provides reliable small strain measurements of the mechanical properties of soils. The main steps that allowed validating of the new pressuremeter probe and the results obtained from previous tests in a physical model are presented in the second part. This approach allows drawing a degradation curve of the shear modulus; this would be useful in the practice of geotechnical engineering, and particularly for a better understanding of the nonlinear behavior of soils subjected to dynamic or seismic loads.