Pore pressures induced by piezocone penetration.

The excess pore-water pressures ( u) induced by piezocone penetration and their dissipation around the cone have been investigated by laboratory model tests and theoretical-numerical analyses. Based on the test results, a method for predicting cone penetration-induced distribution of u has been proposed. By numerical analysis using the predicted initial distribution of u it has been demonstrated that dissipation of the pore-water pressure measured at the shoulder of the cone ( u2-type cone) is a two-dimensional (horizontal radial and vertical) process. A back-fitted coefficient of consolidation in the horizontal direction ( ch) can be obtained by comparing the simulated and laboratory-measured two-dimensional dissipation curves. It has also been shown that a published method for estimating ch from measured nonstandard dissipation curves (in which u2 increases initially and then decreases) results in values of ch that agree well with values of ch deduced from the two-dimensional analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]