Development of a Soil-Specific CPT Interpretation Method for Partially Drained Penetration

PhD student

Xingyi Wu

Supervisors

Dr Mason Ghafghazi (University of Toronto)	Prof Yinghui Tian	A/Prof Shiaohuey Chow

Project details

The Cone Penetration Test (CPT) is a predominant site characterization tool since it provides a wealth of information on soils (e.g. pore water pressure, bearing capacity, and so on) with the fast and inexpensive application. The cone penetration process has a complicated interaction with the pore water in soils because of the generation of excess pore water pressures due to the penetration. This makes interpretation of CPT results particularly challenging. The joint research topic focuses on producing soil-specific CPT interpretation methods by accounting for the complicated nature of the soil, and the interaction of soil, water and the advancing cone. This project will involve the numerical modelling of the interaction between the cone and the soil during the penetration by employing the advanced soil constitutive model under different drainage conditions. The results from the numerical modelling will be used to propose a new interpretation method of CPT results. The outcome of this project will assist engineers to get more precise soil properties from CPT results.