U2 Code Provisions: Significance of In-situ Testing:

The in situ tests in the field have the advantage of testing the soils in their natural, undisturbed
condition. Laboratory tests, on the other hand, make use of small size samples obtained from
boreholes through samplers and therefore the reliability of these depends on the quality of the so
called undisturbed' samples. urther, obtaining undisturbed samples from non!cohesive,
granular soils is not easy, if not impossible. Therefore, it is common practice to rely more on
laboratory tests "here cohesive soils are concerned. urther, in such soils, the field tests being
short duration tests, fail to yield meaningful consolidation settlement data in any case. #here the
subsoil strata are essentially non!cohesive in character, the bias is most definitely to"ards field
tests. The data from field tests is used in empirical, but time!tested correlations to predict
settlement of foundations. The field tests commonly used in subsurface investigation are:
$enetrometer test, $ressuremeter test,%ane shear test,$late load test,&eophysical methods
$enetrometer Tests : 'tandard penetration test ('$T),'tatic cone penetration test (*$T)
+ynamic cone penetration test (+*$T)
Standard penetration test : The standard penetration test is carried out in a borehole, "hile the
+*$T and '*$T are carried out "ithout a borehole. ,ll the three tests measure the resistance of
the soil strata to penetration by a penetrometer. -seful empirical correlations bet"een
penetration resistance and soil properties are available for use in foundation design.
This is the most e.tensively used penetrometer test and employs a split!spoon sampler, "hich
consists of a driving shoe, a split!barrel of circular cross!section "hich is longitudinally split into
t"o parts and a coupling. /': 0121!1341 gives the standard for carrying out the test.
Procedure: The borehole is advanced to the required depth and the bottom cleaned.
The split!spoon sampler, attached to standard drill rods of required length is lo"ered into the
borehole and rested at the bottom.The split!spoon sampler is driven into the soil for a distance of
567mm by blo"s of a drop hammer (monkey) of 86 kg falling vertically and freely from a height
of 967 mm. The number of blo"s required to penetrate every 167 mm is recorded "hile driving
the sampler. The number of blo"s required for the last 277 mm of penetration is added together
and recorded as the : value at that particular depth of the borehole. The number of blo"s
required to effect the first 167mm of penetration, called the seating drive, is disregarded.
The split-spoon sampler is then "ithdra"n and is detached from the drill rods. The split!barrel
is disconnected from the cutting shoe and the coupling. The soil sample collected inside the split
barrel is carefully collected so as to preserve the natural moisture content and transported to the
laboratory for tests. 'ometimes, a thin liner is inserted "ithin the split!barrel so that at the end of
the '$T, the liner containing the soil sample is sealed "ith molten "a. at both its ends before it
is taken a"ay to the laboratory.
The '$T is carried out at every 7.96 m vertical intervals in a borehole. This can be increased to
1.67 m if the depth of borehole is large. +ue to the presence of boulders or rocks, it may not be
possible to drive the sampler to a distance of 567 mm. /n such a case, the : value can be
recorded for the first 277 mm penetration. The boring log sho"s refusal and the test is halted if
67 blo"s are required for any 167mm penetration 177 blo"s are required for 277m penetration
17 successive blo"s produce no advance.
Precautions: The drill rods should be of standard specification and should not be in bent
condition. The split spoon sampler must be in good condition and the cutting shoe must be free
from "ear and tear. The drop hammer must be of the right "eight and the fall should be free,
frictionless and vertical. The height of fall must be e.actly 967 mm. ,ny change from this "ill
seriously affect the : value. The bottom of the borehole must be properly cleaned before the test
is carried out. /f this is not done, the test gets carried out in the loose, disturbed soil and not in the
undisturbed soil.
#hen a casing is used in borehole, it should be ensured that the casing is driven ;ust short of the
level at "hich the '$T is to be carried out. <ther"ise, the test gets carried out in a soil plug
enclosed at the bottom of the casing. #hen the test is carried out in a sandy soil belo" the "ater
table, it must be ensured that the "ater level in the borehole is al"ays maintained slightly above
the ground "ater level. /f the "ater level in the borehole is lo"er than the ground "ater level,
quick' condition may develop in the soil and very lo" : values may be recorded.
/n spite of all these imperfections, '$T is still e.tensively used because the test is simple and
relatively economical. /t is the only test that provides representative soil samples both for visual
inspection in the field and for natural moisture content and classification tests in the laboratory.
'$T values obtained in the field for sand have to be corrected before they are used in empirical
correlations and design charts. /': 0121!1341 recommends that the field value of : be corrected
for t"o effects, namely,
(a) effect of overburden pressure, and (b) effect of dilatancy.
(a) Correction for overburden pressure
'everal investigators have found that the penetration resistance or the : value in a granular soil
is influenced by the overburden pressure. <f t"o granular soils possessing the same relative
density but having different confining pressures, the one "ith a higher confining pressure gives a
higher : value. 'ince the confining pressure ("hich is directly proportional to the overburden
pressure) increases "ith depth, the : values at shallo" depths are underestimated and the :
values at larger depths are overestimated. To allo" for this, : values recorded from field tests at
different effective overburden pressures are corrected to a standard effective overburden
pressure. The corrected : values given by in "hich corrected value of observed := > correction
factor for overburden pressure.
(b) Correction for dilatancy
+i1atancy correction is to be applied "hen
obtained after overburden correction, e.ceeds 16 in saturated
fine sands and silts. /': 0121!1341 incorporates the Terzaghi and $eck recommended dilatancy
correction ("hen ? 16) using the equation >16@7.6 ( A 16) "here > final corrected value to be
used in design charts. /f > ?16 is an indication of a dense sand. /n such a soil, the fast rate of
application of shear through the blo"s of a drop hammer, is likely to induce negative pore "ater
pressure in a saturated fine sand under undrained condition of loading. *onsequently, a transient
increase in shear resistance "ill occur, leading to a '$T value higher than the actual one.