Evaluation of the mechanical properties of fluvial coarsegrained soils from dynamic penetration test

Abstract

Abstract Soil and rock properties are essential inputs for the design of geotechnical structures. But unlike man-made materials, the determination of the characteristic value is not simple, mostly because of the large space variability of the soils and rocks. In many cases, the large spatial variability makes it difficult to collect sufficient ground samples for further laboratory testing so that many tests are performed directly in the field. In Slovakia, the dynamic penetration test (DP) is, among others, a quite popular field test for soil investigation. From the measured data, it is possible to derive relative density (ID) shear (φ ef) and deformation (E def) parameters of coarse-grained soils. There are many available correlations between the DP results and geotechnical parameters. Therefore, it is necessary to choose the most appropriate one as it considerably affects the final evaluation. This paper shows the assessment of geotechnical parameters of coarse-grained fluvial soil from the DP results and presents the statistical determination of its characteristic values, which are furthermore compared with the nominal values used in Slovakia.