Abstract

The Cone Penetration Test (CPT), because of its precision, accuracy, and utility has been increasingly used in earthquake engineering applications in the last decade. This paper provides a brief survey of recent advances in applying the CPT to; liquefaction triggering, post-liquefaction deformations, cyclic failure of clays, dynamic slope stability, and seismic site response. In granular soils the continuous CPT measurements of tip and sleeve resistance are well correlated with the engineering properties of relative density and friction angle. In clay soils the CPT tip resistance is directly proportional to the undrained shear strength. CPT measurements are ideal for weak or soft soil layers, which are the primary culprits in seismic soil failure. The CPT is commonly instrumented with an accelerometer so that shear wave velocity measurements can be made concurrently with penetration measurements. This allows for the measure of the small strain stiffness of the soil for dynamic modeling and site response analysis. For tailings dams and earth slopes the combination of penetration measurements to estimate soil strength and small strain stiffness to assess the modal response provides a complete set of measurements for assessing the dynamic slope stability. For site response analysis the CPT provides the quickest and most cost effective means of layer-specific shear wave velocity imaging of the foundation conditions. A number or recent methods and projects are described in this paper to demonstrate the utility of the CPT in earthquake engineering applications.

Disciplines

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Number of Pages

10

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URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cenv_fac/313