Diambra, A. et al. (2014) Géotechnique Letters 4, 230–237, http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/geolett.14.

00050

Performance of cyclic cone penetration tests in chalk

A. DIAMBRA*, F. CIAVAGLIA{, A. HARMAN{, C. DIMELOW{, J. CAREY{ and D. F. T. NASH*

This paper presents results from a preliminary testing campaign to explore the feasibility and benefits
of performing cyclic cone penetration tests with measurement of pore pressure (CPTu) in chalk. The
CPTu’s cone is a miniature driven pile and this technique permits the monitoring of degradation of
sleeve friction and pore pressure development during cyclic loading. It was found that while
consistent degradation of measured sleeve friction takes place within a few cycles, this was not
associated with an observed pore pressure build up. However, uncertainties about the pore pressure
measurements arose because the remoulded chalk next to the cone was probably unsaturated and
also the pore pressure transducer was positioned close to the tip of the cone. Analysis of the results
suggests that the technique may have promising potential to increase understanding of the
underlying mechanisms and aid the design of axially loaded driven piles in chalk. Nevertheless further
validation and development would be necessary in the future.

KEYWORDS: chalk; friction; penetrometers; piles; site investigators

ICE Publishing: all rights reserved

NOTATION appropriate for the design of driven large-displacement piles

fs sleeve friction
fs,init sleeve friction at the first cycle
fs,res residual sleeve friction
qt cone tip resistance
Rf friction ratio
u pore water pressure
v nominal cone speed
Dd cyclic amplitude
INTRODUCTION
Axial load cycling can have a significant detrimental effect
on the capacity of piled foundations (e.g. Poulos, 1988;
Jardine & Standing, 2012). For offshore structures, which
are invariably subjected to cyclic motion induced by wind
and wave loading, the assessment of the piled foundation
performances under cyclic loading is often the leading
aspect of the design process. While cyclic degradation of
pile capacity in sands and clays has received considerable
interest among the research community, less interest has
been addressed towards piled foundations in soft rocks
such as chalk.
This research explores the feasibility and advantages of
a new technique for cyclic cone penetration testing with
measurement of pore pressure (CPTu) in order to increase
the understanding and potentially aid the design of driven
low-displacement piles in chalk subjected to axial cyclic
loading. There are several pile design procedures which are
based on ‘in-situ’ test data and the CPTu offers the
advantage of being a real miniature driven pile. While the
Ciria report C574 on Engineering in Chalk (Lord et al., 2002)
mentions that cone penetration test (CPT) data may not be
Manuscript received 7 July 2014; first decision 30 July 2014;
accepted 11 August 2014.
Published online at www.geotechniqueletters.com on 12
September 2014.
*University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
{WindSupport Ltd, Bath, UK.
{Lankelma Ltd, Iden, UK.
because of the scale effect, it also suggests that the stress and
flow conditions around the CPT sleeve are analogous to
small-displacement piles. Jardine et al. (2012) and Puech
et al. (2012) also suggested that degradation of soil proper-
ties under cyclic axial pile loading could be explored using
specially devised in-situ tests such as the cyclic CPT. The
cyclic CPTu test may offer information about both
degradation of shaft resistance and pore pressure develop-
ment during cyclic loading. The results of a trial campaign in
chalk will be discussed here and compared with data from
both tension pile tests (from Ciria report C574) and cyclic
laboratory element tests (Carrington et al., 2011). The
potential of the technique will be evaluated and some
guidance for its potential development will be attempted.
SITE CONDITIONS
The test site is in a disused chalk pit located in the Upper
Chalk in Kent, southern England. When the chalk pit was
excavated, all the weathered chalk was removed. The chalk
has been classified as Ciria Grade A/B (Lord et al., 2002),
based on typical discontinuity apertures varying between
closed (Grade A) and less that 3 mm (Grade B). The chalk
is within 0?5% of a fully saturated state, even though the
groundwater level is about 10–11 m below the current
ground level. The characteristic of the chalk in samples
taken by rotary coring from up to about 20 m depth are
summarised in Table 1. The soil profile from chalk core
logging in Fig. 1 shows a succession of the Margate Chalk
overlying the Seaford Chalk formation (Mortimore, 2007).
TEST PROCEDURE
Modified CPT testing equipment
The traditional set-up of a CPT cone truck with 20-t thrust
capacity has been modified to allow the performance of
cyclic CPTus at target depths. Two switches are mounted
on the loading frame inside the truck to control the
amplitude of the cycles and to permit the reversal of the
cone travel. The minimum amplitude of the cycles is about
1 cm, while the cone can be pushed at a nominal speed

230

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 Performance of cyclic cone penetration tests in chalk 231

Table 1. Characteristics of the chalk at the site

Property Minimum Maximum Average

Moisture content: % 20 33 29
Bulk density: Mg/m3 1?88 2?09 1?94
Dry density: Mg/m3 1?42 1?73 1?5
Saturated moisture content: % 21 33 29?5
Porosity: % 36 47 44
Unconfined compressive 2?1 3?59 2?8
strength: MPa

varying between 1 and 4 cm/s. A 15 cm2 cone with an apex upwards by 50 mm and a pore water dissipation test
angle of 60u and pore pressure transducer in position U2 is performed (stage 1.2). The cyclic test is finally
was used. The acquisition system had a sampling frequency performed with the first cycle in the upward direction
of 100 Hz. (stage 1.3). No cone tip resistance is developed during
the cyclic test.
(b) P2: the cone is statically pushed to target depth
Testing procedure and programme followed by a pore water dissipation test (stage 2.1 in
The cyclic CPTus were performed at two locations at the Fig. 2(b)). Then the cyclic test is initiated in the
chalk site, called CPTC1 and CPTC2 respectively. For each downward direction in the virgin chalk (stage 2.2).
location, the cone was statically pushed to a number of
Cone tip resistance (qt) is monitored during the cyclic
depths and the cyclic procedure was then performed.
tests but generally becomes negligible after about 3–4
Table 2 presents a summary of the tests.
cycles.
Two different procedures were adopted to initiate the
No significant differences in the observed evolution of
cyclic loading stage (Fig. 2).
sleeve friction and excess pore pressure were noticed
(a) P1: the cone is statically pushed to target depth plus between the procedures. However, procedure P2 records
50 mm (stage 1.1 in Fig. 2(a)). The cone is then pulled the sleeve friction during the first virgin loading as part of

Core recovery and quality data

Biostratigraphy Litholog Rock description TCR/RQD/SCR and AFS Ciria grade

2.60 m start
3 Well-structured, 2.60–4.10 m, TCR=93%, SCR=35%, RQD=31%, Closed to slightly open stained
3.30 m small (< 33 mm thick) flint clean, low to medium AFS=150 mm (subhorizontal and vertical joints B3
density white chalk moderately speckled/stained joints)
Patchy, red, iron-stained sponge bed with few flints
4.10–5.80 m, TCR=60%, SCR=17%, RQD=17%,
AFS=250 mm (subhorizontal and vertical
5 moderately speckled/stained joints); lot of core loss
Flint at base of core-run
(Unitacrinus zone type) 5.60–7.10 m, TCR=100%, SCR=79%, RQD=53%,
Fossil echinoid shell AFS=214 mm (subhorizontal and vertical Closed to slightly open stained
Well–developed, red, iron-stained sponge moderately speckled/stained joints) joints B2
Micraster bed with round, ball-flints on top
7.10–8.80 m, TCR=93%, SCR=53%, RQD=50%,
7.60–68 large spiky flints AFS=250 mm (subhorizontal and vertical
8.03–10 medium-sized flints moderately speckled/stained joints)
Well-structured, clean,
8.60 medium-sized flints low to medium density
white chalk with regular 8.80–10.10 m, TCR=100%, SCR=67%, RQD=55%,
Patchy sponge bed flint bands Closed to slightly open stained
AFS=167 mm (subhorizontal and vertical
9.55 shells moderately speckled/stained joints)
joints B3
Patchy sponge bed
10
10.10–11.60 m, TCR=90%, SCR=63%, RQD=43%,
10.70 medium-sized flints AFS=300 mm (subhorizontal and vertical moderately
11.00–05 medium-sized flints
speckled/stained joints)
11.60 medium-sized flints in tube cap at
top of core-run
12.00–05 medium-sized flints 11.60–13.10 m, TCR=100%, SCR=73%, RQD=70%,
AFS=375 mm (4 × subhorizontal and vertical
12.55 medium-sized flints moderately speckled/stained joints)
13.00–10 medium-sized flints
13.10–14.60 m, TCR=83%, SCR=83%, RQD=80%,
13.70 medium-sized flints AFS=500 mm (3 × subhorizontal and vertical
14.00 small finger flints moderately speckled/stained joints)
14.40–60 large (> 100 mm thick) spiky flints
14.60–80 Well-developed, red, iron-
15 stained sponge bed 14.60–16.10 m, TCR=87%, SCR=83%, RQD=63%,
15.10 medium-sized flints AFS=375 mm (3 × subhorizontal and vertical Closed to slightly open stained
moderately speckled/stained joints) joints B2 becoming closed A2
16.30–40 medium-sized flints 16.10–17.60 m, TCR=80%, SCR=20%, RQD=20%,
16.60 medium-sized flints AFS=300 mm (subhorizontal and vertical moderately
speckled/stained joints: lot of core loss with flints)
17.60 medium-sized flints
17.88 fossil inoceramid bivalve 17.60–19.10 m, TCR=93%, SCR=61%, RQD=58%,
shells (Platyceramus) AFS=250 mm (6 × subhorizontal and vertical
18.30 medium-sized flints
moderately speckled/stained joints)
Patchy sponge bed
19.30 large (> 100 mm) sized, solid flints
19.10–20.60 m, TCR=100%, SCR=55%, RQD=55%,
19.60, 20.00, 20.25 fossil Bands of inoceramid
20 AFS=500 mm (3 × subhorizontal and vertical moderately
inoceramid bivalve shells
shells (Platyceramus)
speckled/stained joints); lot of core damage
20.30 EoB
Where TCR= total core recovery, RQD= rock quality designation,
SCR= solid core recovery, AFS= average fracture spacing

Fig. 1. Logging from rotary cored borehole (after Mortimore, 2007). The light blue colour indicates the Margate Chalk while the
green colour the Seaford Chalk formation

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 232 Diambra, Ciavaglia, Harman, Dimelow, Carey and Nash

Table 2. Cyclic CPTus in chalk: summary of tests

Actual depth Cyclic Nominal Initial shaft

(start–end): Cyclic amplitude No. cone rate, v: friction: Residual shaft
Location Test type m bgl procedure Dd: mm cycles cm/s kPa friction: kPa
CPTC1 Static 1 0–1?3
Cyclic 1 1?3 P1 40 50 2 90 5
Static 2 1?3–2?3
Cyclic 2 2?3 P1 40 50 2 220 11
Static 3 2?3–3?8
Cyclic 3 3?8 P1 40 100 2 150 5
Static 4 3?8–5?3
Cyclic 4 5?3 P1 40 50 2 300 12
Static 5 5?3–6?3
Cyclic 5 6?3 P1 40 50 2 150 7
Static 6 6?3–7?3
Cyclic 6 7?3 P2 40 50 2 400 20
Static 7 7?3–8?3
Cyclic 7 8?3 P2 20 50 2 300 5
Static 8 8?3–10?3
Cyclic 8 10?3 P2 20 50 2 500 35
CPTC2 Static 1 0–2?3
Cyclic 1 2?3 P2 10 52 2 90 10
Static 2 2?3–3?8
Cyclic 2 3?8 P2 10 50 2 300 15
Static 3 3?8–6?3
Cyclic 3 6?3 P2 20 50 2 300 8
Static 4 6?3–7?3
Cyclic 4 7?3 P2 20 120 4 300 20
Static 5 7?3–8?3
Cyclic 5 8?3 P2 20 50 1 500 50
Static 6 8?3–10?3
Cyclic 6 10?3 P2 40 50 1 400 40

the cyclic test, while in procedure P1 the virgin loading
procedure was applied during the static push to target
depth. During the experimental campaign it was recognised
that procedure P2 was actually more suited to monitor the
changes (degradation) of sleeve friction and it has been
preferred from test CPTC1_cyclic 7 onwards (Table 2). It
should also be noted that the cyclic amplitude was
measured at the top of the push rod, not at the cone tip,
and the compression of the rod may have slightly affected
the measurement of cone travel, especially during the first
downward stroke into undisturbed ground for procedure
P2.

Procedure P1 Procedure P2

1.2 Pull-up to 2.1 Static CPTu to

1.1 Static CPTu target depth and 1.3 Cyclic CPTu
to 50 mm target depth and pore 2.1 Cyclic CPTu with
pore pressure with amplitude Dd
below target pressure dissipation test amplitude Dd
dissipation test
depth

Dd

Target depth
50 mm Target depth
Dd

(a) (b)

Fig. 2. Adopted test procedures for the cyclic CPTus: (a) P1; (b) P2

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 Performance of cyclic cone penetration tests in chalk 233

0 0 0 0

Cycle 1

2 2 2 2
Cycle 2

Cycle 3
4 4 4 4

Cycle 4

Depth: m

Depth: m
Depth: m

Depth: m
6 6 6 6
Cycle 5

Cycle 6

8 8 8 8
Cycle 7

10 10 10 10
Cycle 8

12 12 12 12
0 20 40 0 200 400 600 800 0 2000 4000 6000 0 5 10
qt: MPa fs: kPa u: kPa Rf: %
(a) (b) (c) (d)

Fig. 3. Logs of: (a) cone tip resistance (qt); (b) sleeve friction (fs); (c) pore pressure (u); (d) friction ratio (Rf) for static CPTC1. Depths
of performed cyclic CPTus are also indicated

TEST RESULTS respectively, and then increases with values ranging up to

Static CPTu results
The profiles of recorded cone tip resistance (qt), sleeve
friction (fs), pore water pressure (u) and friction ratio (Rf) are
reported in Figs 3 and 4. The tip resistance (qt) appears to
increase slightly with depth from about 10 MPa at the
surface to about 20–30 MPa at 10 m below ground level.
The sleeve friction shows values between 100 and 200 kPa
down to 6?5 and 5?5 m depth in CPTC1 and CPTC2,
about 600 kPa, which suggests an improvement of chalk
properties with depth. The pore pressure and friction ratio
also show similar increasing trends. During static pushing of
the cone, a consistent pore pressure build up was observed
with pressures that often exceeded 2 MPa. However, the
pore pressure dissipation tests performed before each cyclic
test were actually very quick and 50% of dissipation was
reached in about 4–8 s for all tests with the exception of tests

0 0 0 0

2 2 2 2
Cycle 1

Cycle 2
4 4 4 4
Depth: m

Depth: m

Depth: m

Depth: m

6 6 6 6
Cycle 3

Cycle 4

8 8 8 8
Cycle 5

10 10 10 10
Cycle 6

12 12 12 12
0 20 40 0 200 400 600 800 0 2000 4000 6000 0 5 10
qt: MPa fs: kPa u: kPa Rf: %
(a) (b) (c) (d)

Fig. 4. Logs of: (a) cone tip resistance (qt); (b) sleeve friction (fs); (c) pore pressure (u); (d) friction ratio (Rf) for static CPTC2. Depths
of performed cyclic CPTus are also indicated

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 234 Diambra, Ciavaglia, Harman, Dimelow, Carey and Nash

600 600
CPTC1 v=2 cm/s, Dd=40 mm, Depth=2.3 m CPTC2 v=2 cm/s, Dd=10 mm, Depth=2.3 m
400 400

fs, u: kPa
fs, u: kPa
200 200
0 0
–200 fs –200 fs
–400 u –400 u
–600 –600
0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
Cumulative travel: m Cumulative travel: m
(a) (b)
600 600
CPTC1 v=2 cm/s, Dd=40 mm, Depth=7.3 m CPTC2 v=4 cm/s, Dd=20 mm, Depth=7.3 m
400 400
fs, u: kPa

fs, u: kPa
200 200
0 0
–200 fs –200 fs
–400 u –400 u
–600 –600
0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
Cumulative travel: m Cumulative travel: m
(c) (d)
600 600
CPTC1 v=2 cm/s, Dd=20 mm, Depth=10.3 m CPTC2 v=1 cm/s, Dd=40 mm, Depth=10.3 m
400 400

fs, u: kPa
200 200
fs, u: kPa

0 0
–200 fs –200 fs
–400 u –400 u
–600 –600
0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
Cumulative travel: m Cumulative travel: m
(e) (f)

Fig. 5. Trends of sleeve friction (fs), and pore pressure (u) plotted against cumulative displacement (or travel) of the cone tip for
depths of 2?3 m, 7?3 m and 10?3 m in both CPTC1 and CPTC2 locations

no. 2 and no. 5 in CPTC1 location, for which about 30 s
were necessary. The depths of the cyclic CPTus are also
shown on the static CPTu profiles in Figs 3 and 4.
Cyclic CPTu results
Typical trends of measured sleeve friction and pore water
pressure during the cyclic procedure are plotted against the
cumulative travel of the cone in Fig. 5. The sleeve friction
(fs) is shown as positive during downward movements and
negative for upward movements of the cone. For those tests
performed with procedure P1, the sleeve friction during
virgin loading (first virgin cycle) has been included in
Fig. 5. For the range of cyclic amplitudes and cone
displacement speeds employed, a consistent degradation
of sleeve friction within a very few loading cycles was
observed in all tests. The largest rate of degradation can be
observed in the first couple of cycles, after which the sleeve
friction progressively approaches an asymptotic (residual)
value which is generally reached within about 5–10 cycles.
A complete shear stress reversal takes place during the
cyclic tests and this may favour the degradation of sleeve
resistance. Very similar trends of strength degradation
within a few cycles have been observed by Carrington et al.
(2011) during strain-controlled cyclic simple shear tests on
low- to medium-density chalk. Carrington et al. (2011)
observed that failure occurred at the chalk–platen interface
to reach a residual shear stress of between 4 and 6 kPa.
The pore water pressure shows generally a rapid positive
increase in the first cycle. Then the average value quickly
drops but continues to fluctuate in response to the imposed
cycling. Downward cyclic reversals of displacement create
a sudden increase in pore pressure (see for example the
last few cycles of test CPTC1 at 7?3 m shown in Fig. 5)
followed by a slow recovery of suction until the next cycle
downward reversal is applied. It is unsure whether the
measurements of the pore pressure transducer in the U2
position are affected by any vacuum created in the cavity
below the cone tip and the recorded suctions may have also
been limited by the onset of cavitation at about 260 kPa.
For future attempts at cyclic CPTu, it may be preferable to
locate the pore pressure transducer in position U3, which is
above the friction sleeve and away from the cone tip.
On the other hand, if the reliability of pore pressure
measurements is taken for granted, the presence of some
suction may be related to the low water table at the site.
The lack of a consistent build-up of pore pressure (which
could have been induced by the repeated cycling) agrees
also with the very quick drop of pore water pressures
observed during the dissipation tests. This observation
suggests that the sleeve friction degradation is related to
progressive remoulding of the chalk, due to the progressive
breakdown of the high-porosity structure of the material.
This was also suggested by Jewell & Andrews (1988) for
piles driven in carbonate soils and reiterated by Burland &
French (1990) for piles in chalk.
Residual sleeve friction
The actual and normalised (by the vertical effective stress)
residual sleeve friction at the end of each cyclic stage has
been plotted against actual depth for both CPTC1 (square
symbols) and CPTC2 (circle symbols) in Figs 6(a) and 6(b),
respectively. It appears that the residual sleeve friction
is about 5–15 kPa in the top 7 m, while it increases up to
35–50 kPa below 8 m depth (Fig. 6(a)). Interestingly, the
change in residual friction follows the improvement in
chalk properties observed from the static CPTu logs in
Figs 3 and 4. The normalised residual sleeve friction shows
instead a constant trend with depth, suggesting a potential
dependence on the vertical effective stress (Fig. 6(b)).
Further studies are needed to understand how the residual
sleeve friction is affected by chalk properties and/or
effective stresses.
The residual sleeve friction has also been plotted against
the initial sleeve friction (at the start of each cyclic stage)

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 Performance of cyclic cone penetration tests in chalk 235

0 0

2 2

4 4

Depth: m
Depth: m

6 6

8 8

10 10

CPTC1 CPTC1
CPTC2 CPTC2
12 12
0 20 40 60 80 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
fs,res: kPa fs,res/s′v
(a) (b)

Fig. 6. (a) Actual and (b) normalised (by vertical effective stress) residual cone sleeve friction (fs,res) plotted against actual depth for
both CPTC1 (square symbols) and CPTC2 (circle symbols)

for both CPTC locations in Fig. 7. It may be argued that
there is indeed a sort of positive relationship between initial
and residual sleeve friction.
Finally, the possible influence of the amplitude of the
cycles and the cone displacement rate is explored in
Figs 8(a) and 8(b), where the residual sleeve friction is
plotted against these two variables; no apparent trend can
be clearly identified and this requires further research.
Comparison with pile tests
Unfortunately, there is limited literature on cyclic axial
load tests on piles in chalk. Results from tests on bored
piles presented by Fort & Martin (1990) showed that the
cyclic displacement was 30% higher than the monotonic
displacement after 21 cycles and was not showing any signs
of stabilising. Cyclic tests on driven cruciform piles by
Burland & French (1990) showed a similar degradation of
capacity with increased upward displacement during cyclic
tensile loading and a decrease in shaft resistance in a
subsequent monotonic load test. Burland & French (1990)
suggested that cyclic degradation is typical of low-
displacement piles which do not completely disturb the
surrounding chalk during first driving because of their
small cross-sectional area. Similarly the CPTu showed a
progressive cyclic degradation.
It may be worth noting that based on a set of four tests
on driven piles (Hobbs & Robins, 1979; Lord & Davies,
1979; Burland & French, 1990; Hobbs & Atkinson, 1993),
Ciria report C574 (Lord et al., 2002) recommends

80
CPTC1
CPTC2
70

60

50
fs,res: kPa

40

30

20

10

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
fs,init: kPa

Fig. 7. Residual cone sleeve friction (fs,res) plotted against Initial cone sleeve friction (fs,init) for both CPTC1 (square symbols) and
CPTC2 (circle symbols)

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 236 Diambra, Ciavaglia, Harman, Dimelow, Carey and Nash
80
CPTC1
CPTC2 Filled marker for v=2 cm/s
70
60
50
fs,res: kPa
40
30
20
10
0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Cyclic amplitude: mm
(a)
Fig. 8. Residual cone sleeve friction (fs,res) plotted against (a) cyclic amplitude (Dd) and (b) cyclic displacement speed (v) for both
CPTC1 (square symbols) and CPTC2 (circle symbols)
conservative values of ultimate shaft friction of 20 kPa
for steel tubular piles in grade B–C–D chalk and 120 kPa
in grade A chalk. These values are not only similar to
those found in this research but they also suggest a
relationship between shaft friction and chalk type which
seems to be corroborated by the (indeed limited) results
shown here.
CONCLUSIONS
The preliminary experimental campaign to explore the
feasibility and benefit of performing cyclic CPTu tests in
chalk has led to the following conclusions.
(a) The measurements of cone sleeve friction during cyclic
CPTu tests have shown a large detrimental effect of
cyclic loading. This seems to corroborate observations
from published cyclic simple shear element tests and
cyclic axial tests on bored and driven piles in chalk.
(b) The observed pore pressure trends do not show a
progressive build-up during cyclic loading. However, it
is unclear whether the measurements from a pressure
transducer in location U2 are affected by suction
created below the cone tip and the use of a transducer
in position U3 should be considered in future work.
(c) The residual value of sleeve friction varies between
5 and 20 kPa in the top 7 m and between 35 and 50 kPa
at greater depths, which follows both the improvement
of chalk properties and the increase of vertical effective
stresses with depth. A positive relationship between
static and residual sleeve friction also seems to exist.
(d) While cyclic frequency and amplitude may affect the
degradation rate and residual value of sleeve friction,
no relationship could be observed in this research.
(e) These preliminary tests confirm the feasibility of perform-
ing cyclic CPTus and their potential use for foundation
design in chalk, and also perhaps in other granular and
cohesive materials. Nevertheless, comparison with pile
load tests on the same site would be needed for validation
of the technique.
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80
CPTC1
CPTC2
70
60
50
fs,res: kPa
40
30
20
10
60 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
v: cm/s
(b)
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