Report on Cone Penetration Tests (CPTU)

Project: Gandharbpur Water Treatment SNC

1.0 General
This report presents the results of three CPTU tests conducted for Gandharbpur Water
Treatment SNC Project. The CPTU test was carried out using FOX100 pushing system. The
photographs of the CPTU test setups are presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Photograph of CPTU Test

2.0 Applicable Standard

The Piezocone Test (CPTU) used as the part of geotechnical investigation of this project meets
the equipment requirements and the test method of the following ASTM standard (given in
Appendix A):

 ASTM D 5778-12 Standard Test Method for Electronic Friction Cone and Piezocone
Penetration Testing of Soils.

3.0 CPTU System

The CPTU system consists of a cone penetrometer, pushing equipment and a data acquisition
system (Figure 2).

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Report on Cone Penetration Tests (CPTU)
Project: Gandharbpur Water Treatment SNC

GME-500 IP65 Data acquisition system

Cable RS232
GME-500 IP65

CPT Cable
Cone GC/S10

Figure 2: CPTU System

3.1 Cone
The Piezocone (i.e., the cone of CPTU system) is comprised of a cone tip, pore pressure filter,
friction sleeve and push rod connector, attached to the sleeve (Figure 3). The design feature of
Piezocone is schematically shown in Figure 4.
The conical part of the cone is termed cone tip. The dimensions of the cone tip are as follows:
Angle of Cone Tip = 60⁰
Base Area of Cone = 10 cm2
The cylindrical part of the cone (i.e., attached to the base of the cone tip) is called friction
sleeve, which measures localized peripheral friction. The surface area of friction sleeve is 150
cm2. The cone used in this project is compression cone.

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Report on Cone Penetration Tests (CPTU)
Project: Gandharbpur Water Treatment SNC

Friction Sleeve

Pore pressure Filter

Cone Tip

(a) (b)
Figure 3: Cone Penetrometer; (a) Outside View (b) Inside View

3.1.1 Pore Pressure Filter

A ceramic filter is used to measure dynamic pore pressure. The position of the pore pressure
filter in the cone used in this project shown in Figure 3. This filter is located in the extension
above the base of the cone. The friction on the filter is included in the measured cone resistance.
Its function is to allow rapid movements of the extremely small volumes of water, needed to
activate the pressure sensor, while it prevents soil ingress or blockage.
Inside the cone, an inclinometer (Figure 4) is installed as an additional sensor, which measures
the deviation of the probe from the vertical. In case of conducting CPT up to greater depths, a
small inclination may cause significant errors in the depth measurements.

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Report on Cone Penetration Tests (CPTU)
Project: Gandharbpur Water Treatment SNC

Figure 4: Design Features of Piezocone

Seals or O-rings prevent the ingress of both soil and water into the body of the device during
testing.
The calibration certificates of the CPTU cones are given in Appendix B.

3.2 Measurements Recorded During CPTU Test

CPTU Data Acquisition System combines the output from the sensors (installed inside the cone)
and the output from the depth encoder. The load cells of qc and fs are made up of multiple strain
gauges and the pore pressure transducer is typically provided with one single strain gauge,

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Report on Cone Penetration Tests (CPTU)
Project: Gandharbpur Water Treatment SNC
directly attached to the diaphragm, which is exposed to the external pressure. The
measurements recorded by the data acquisition system of CPTU, include cone penetration
resistance (qc), sleeve frictional resistance (fs), dynamic pore water pressure (u2) and
penetration depth (z). Inclination (I) of the cone is observed during testing.

4.0 CPTU Test Program

The plan view of location is presented in Appendix C.
The information related to CPTU test point is given in Table 1.

Table 1: Information Related to CPTU Test

Maximum Depth
Coordinates of CPTU Point
Sr. of Penetration
Test ID. Test Date
No Easting Northing below EGL
X Y m
1 CPTU-01 246846.403 2629900.390 8.50 24-Dec-22

The corrected cone penetration resistance (qt) is calculated from the following equation:
qt = qc + (1 − a) ∗ u2
where,
qc = Cone Penetration Resistance
u2 = Dynamic Pore Water Pressure
a = 0.8
The net cone penetration resistance (qn) is calculated from the following equation:
qn = qt − σv0
where,
qn = Net Cone Resistance
σv0 = Effective Overburden Pressure
The effective cone penetration resistance (qe) is calculated from the following equation:
qe = qt − u2
where,
qt = Corrected total cone penetration resistance
qe = Effective cone penetration resistance
u2 = Dynamic pore water pressure

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Report on Cone Penetration Tests (CPTU)
Project: Gandharbpur Water Treatment SNC
Relative density is (Dr) is calculated for cohesion less soil by the following equation (Baldi et
al 1986):

1 qc
Dr = ∗ ln( )
C2 C0 ∗(σv0 ∗1000)C1

where,
Consolidated Soil,
C0 ≈ 157; C1 ≈ 0.55; C2 ≈ 2.41
qc = Cone Penetration Resistance
σv0 = Effective Overburden Pressure
Based on the measured values of net cone penetration resistance (qn) and sleeve friction (fs),
the friction ratio (Rf) is calculated using the following equation:

fs
Rf = ( ) ∗ 100%
qn
where,
qn = Net cone penetration resistance
fs = Sleeve friction

The result of CPTU test carried out at the CPTU test point is given in Appendix D and soil
behavior type classifications by software CPTask are given in Appendix E.

5.0 Results of CPTU Test

The average values of soil parameters of soil layers at the CPTU-01 test point are determined
from the results of CPTU, presented in Table 2.

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Report on Cone Penetration Tests (CPTU)
Project: Gandharbpur Water Treatment SNC
Table 2: Average Values of CPTU Based Soil Parameters of All Soil Layers

Depth Avg. Avg. Avg.

Avg. Net Avg. Relative
Avg. Cone Corrected Effective Dynamic Avg.
cone Sleeve Density, Dr
resistance total cone cone pore Friction
resistance friction (CPT based
(qc) resistance resistance pressure ratio (Rf)
Top Bottom (qn) (fs) correlation)
(qt) (qe) (u2)

m m MPa MPa MPa MPa MPa MPa (%) (%)

0.0 0.99 1.54 1.54 1.53 1.54 0.01 0.00 0.55 46.65
1.0 1.99 1.42 1.42 1.40 1.41 0.01 0.01 0.70 15.85
2.0 2.99 4.25 4.25 4.21 4.24 0.03 0.01 0.87 43.60
3.0 3.99 3.74 3.74 3.68 3.74 0.02 0.00 0.83 33.11
4.0 4.99 2.69 2.70 2.61 2.66 0.02 0.04 1.29 6.42
5.0 5.99 3.93 3.94 3.84 3.89 0.02 0.06 0.29 21.69
6.0 6.99 5.80 5.81 5.69 5.77 0.04 0.04 0.63 39.82
7.0 7.99 3.02 3.04 2.90 2.97 0.03 0.07 2.04 41.81
Average= 3.30 3.31 3.23 3.28 0.02 0.03 0.90 31.12
Max= 5.80 5.81 5.69 5.77 0.04 0.07 2.04 46.65
Min= 1.42 1.42 1.40 1.41 0.01 0.00 0.29 6.42
Stdev= 1.46 1.46 1.43 1.45 0.01 0.03 0.54 14.75

Figure 5 presents the profiles of cone penetration resistance (qc), corrected cone penetration
resistance (qt) and effective penetration resistance (qe) at CPTU-01 test point. Figure 6 presents
the profiles of friction ratio (Rf), sleeve friction (fs), dynamic pore water pressure (u2) and
relative density, Dr (CPT based correlation) at CPTU-01 test point.

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Report on Cone Penetration Tests (CPTU)
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Soil
qc qt qe
Depth (MPa) (MPa)
Type (MPa)
0 5 10 0 5 100 5 10
0

0.990m SM
1

1.990m SM
2

2.990m SM
3

3.990m
SM
4

4.990m SM
5

5.990m SM
6

6.990m SM
7

7.990m SM
8
8.5m SM

10

11

Figure 5: Profiles of qc, qt and qe at CPTU-01 Test Point

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Report on Cone Penetration Tests (CPTU)
Project: Gandharbpur Water Treatment SNC

fs u2 Dr
Soil Rf
Depth (MPa) (MPa) (%)
Type 0 3 60.00 0.04 0.00
0.08 0.08 0.160 50 100
0

0.990m SM
1

1.990m SM
2

2.990m SM
3

3.990m SM
4

4.990m SM
5

5.990m SM
6

6.990m SM
7

7.990m SM
8
8.5m SM

10

11
Figure 6: Profiles of Rf, fs, u2 and Dr at the CPTU-01 Test Point

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Report on Cone Penetration Tests (CPTU)
Project: Gandharbpur Water Treatment SNC
6.0 Liquefaction Calculation for Soil
Soil liquefaction occurs when a saturated or partially saturated soil substantially loses strength
and stiffness in response to an applied stress such as shaking during an earthquake or other
sudden change in stress condition, in which material that is ordinarily a solid behaves like a
liquid.
Liquefied soil can be determined by two different methods.
i. If qcln ≥ 120 the soil is non-liquefiable
ii. Also determine by Boulanger & Idriss. 2014 graph (Figure 7).
 If Qtn< 50, CRR = 0.833[Qtn/1,000] +0.05
 If 50 <Qtn < 160, CRR = 93[Qtn /1,000]3 + 0.08
Magnitude of earthquake, Mf = 7.5

0.7
0.25<D50 (mm) <2.0 and Clean Sand
Cyclic resistance ratio (CRR)
Cyclic stress ratio (CSR) or

0.6 FC (%) < 5 Base curve

Mf = 7.5
0.5
0.4 Liquefiable
0.3
0.2
Non-liquefiable
0.1
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Normalized Cone Resistance, Qtn

Figure 7 : CPT-based liquefaction triggering curves for Mf = 7.5 by Boulanger &

Idriss. 2014

For Clean Sand Base curve, 0.25<D50 (mm) <2.0 and FC (%) < 5

7.0 Conclusion
From Table D2, the soil is liquefiable up to the depth of 8.0m.

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Report on Cone Penetration Tests (CPTU)
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Appendix A
ASTM D 5778-12: Standard Test Method for Electronic Friction Cone and
Piezocone Penetration Testing of Soils

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Report on Cone Penetration Tests (CPTU)
Project: Gandharbpur Water Treatment SNC

Appendix B
Calibration Certificate of the CPTU Cone

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Report on Cone Penetration Tests (CPTU)
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Appendix C
Plan View of the Location

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Report on Cone Penetration Tests (CPTU)
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Appendix D
CPTU Test Results at CPTU Point

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Report on Cone Penetration Tests (CPTU)
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Appendix E
Soil Behavior Type Classification by Software CPTask

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