Load testing and settlement of shallow foundation on desert sands

Abstract

Shallow foundation load tests were performed on desert sands. Previously, cone penetration tests (CPT) and pressuremeter tests (PMT) had been done at each location to determine soil properties. Settlements were calculated from CPT and PMT data using common empirical methods. CPT data were employed to predict settlement behaviours utilising methods proposed by Schmertmann in 1970, Schmertmann and co-workers in 1978, Meyerhof in 1974 and DeBeer in 1965. PMT results were used to predict settlement behaviours using the method offered by Menard in 1975. Standard penetration test N60-values were estimated from CPT results using an artificial neural network model developed by Tarawneh in 2016. It is concluded that the method proposed by Menard in 1975 is reliable, as it over-predicted by an average ratio of 1·27. When using CPT data for settlement estimates, the methods of both Meyerhof and DeBeer over-predicted by an average ratio of 2·84 and 1·96, respectively, and that of Schmertmann by a 2·38 average when using soil modulus Es = 2·5qc (it dropped to 1·19 when using Es = 5qc in the calculations).