Estimating coefficient of consolidation from piezocone tests

Abstract

Data have been reviewed from sites in Europe and North and South America as well as published data from South Africa. The review has concentrated on dissipation data from piezocone tests (CPTU) to compare predicted coefficient of consolidation and permeability values using published interpretation techniques with available reference values. The results of this review have shown that the theoretical solutions provide reasonable estimates of the in situ coefficient of consolidation. Results were evaluated for pore-pressure data from different locations on the piezocone, and the least scatter in results was obtained with the pore-pressure element location immediately above the cone tip. A new correlation has been proposed to estimate in situ horizontal coefficient of permeability (k h ) from piezocone dissipation data. Key words : in situ, coefficient consolidation, cone penetration test, permeability.