PREDICTIONS OF THE COEFFICIENT OF CONSOLIDATION FROM PIEZOCONE TESTS

The aim of this paper is to report data from piezocone dissipation tes ts in order to evaluate current theoretical interpretation methods for the determination of consolidation parameters. Three independent sets of data are examined from both field and laboratory testing programme s in which pore pressures measured at four different locations on the piezocone were recorded. The primary importance of the rigidity index in affecting the calculation of the coefficient of consolidation is di scussed. The experimental results indicate that the shapes of the meas ured dissipation curves are closest to the theoretical predictions for the pore pressures measured on the shoulder immediately above the con e face, so that a recommendation is made for the use of a filter eleme nt at this position. There is an additional advantage for this particu lar location in that shorter dissipation times are needed to achieve a given proportion of the total dissipation. Because the basic object o f the analysis is to estimate the in situ horizontal coefficient of co nsolidation, an attempt is made to establish a recommendation that the re should be a standard for interpretation of consolidation data recor ded from piezocone tests.