• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.429-438
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• 2018

Cone and T-bar penetrometers have been frequently used to estimate the undrained shear strength of clay. For small-size model tests, miniature penetrometers should be used but their correlation factors have not been well published. In this study, a testing setup was developed to derive empirical factors of the miniature cone and T-bar penetrometers. A 350mm-diameter chamber and kaolin clay were utilized to prepare soil specimens consolidated under four different pre-consolidation pressures controlling undrained shear strength. Two miniature cones with two diameters of 10-mm and 16-mm and a T-bar penetrometer with 10-mm diameter were used to investigate boundary effect, penetration rate effect, and diameter and shape effect. Unconsolidated-undrained triaxial tests were carried out with samples taken from the specimens to measure undrained shear strength. Finally, empirical factors for the penetrometers were constructed to correlate tip resistance to undrained shear strength.