Miniature Cone Penetration Test on Loose Sand

Considering the difficulties associated with preparing loose sand samples in large calibration chambers and wide area of research on the behavior of loose sands, miniature calibration chamber experiments are used to perform cone penetration tests on soils in different states. A miniature cone calibration chamber has been designed and developed in this study. Nineteen tests have been performed on Ottawa sand and the results are compared to the available data in the literature. The accuracy of the results is validated by comparing the results with the suggested rate for the cone resistance in sands in literature. More specifically, results are compared with the results of the large calibration chamber tests performed on the same soil at University of Florida. Results are in a very good agreement with the literature and data available from large calibration chambers. Different soil identification systems are used to further validate and compare the results. Results of the performed tests are presented and discussed in terms of the repeatability of the developed apparatus, the effect of penetration rate, boundary condition effect, scale effect, particle crushing, overburden stress normalization and verification of the measurements. Some available procedures to perform a CPT-based liquefaction analysis including liquefaction susceptibility, triggering and post-liquefaction strength analysis are evaluated using the laboratory miniature CPT experiments performed in the current study. Some of the well-established equations to estimate soil properties required for liquefaction studies are also evaluated using the laboratory miniature CPT experiments performed in the current study. The existing methods for estimating state parameter from cone penetration test results are reviewed and an evaluation of the performance of the existing methods using the laboratory miniature CPT experiments performed in the current study is presented.