• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1085-1101
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• 2015

Changes in substructure conditions, such as ballast fouling and subgrade settlement may cause the railway quality deterioration, including the differential geometry of the rails. The objective of this study is to develop and apply a hybrid cone penetrometer (HCP) to characterize the railway substructure. The HCP consists of an outer rod and an inner mini cone, which can dynamically and statically penetrate the ballast and the subgrade, respectively. An accelerometer and four strain gauges are installed at the head of the outer rod and four strain gauges are attached at the tip of the inner mini cone. In the ballast, the outer rod provides a dynamic cone penetration index (DCPI) and the corrected DCPI (CDCPI) with the energy transferred into the rod head. Then, the inner mini cone is pushed to estimate the strength of the subgrade from the cone tip resistance. Laboratory application tests are performed on the specimen, which is prepared with gravel and sandy soil. In addition, the HCP is applied in the field and compared with the standard dynamic cone penetration test. The results from the laboratory and the field tests show that the cone tip resistance is inversely proportional to the CDCPI. Furthermore, in the subgrade, the HCP produces a high-resolution profile of the cone tip resistance and a profile of the CDCPI in the ballast. This study suggests that the dynamic and static penetration tests using the HCP may be useful for characterizing the railway substructure.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.434-438
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• 2009

This study was conducted to design an cone penetrometer type impedance sensor that can measure soil water content in realtime. The best width between electrical probe was determined by 5 mm. For optimization about realtime application device, linear regression analysis was applied between soil water content and impedance signal. It was concluded that proper combination of excitation frequency, impedance parameter, and model would provide acceptible performance of a soil waler content sensoe. Best model was obatained at a 36.5 MHz with |Z| as a predictor variable, with a coefficient of determination of 0.96 (RMSE=1.35, RPD=4.98).

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.63-72
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• 2024

In-situ penetration tests using dynamic penetrometers are widely used for estimating soil resistance. Additionally, these dynamic penetrometers have been instrumented to improve tests accuracy. This paper introduces smart instrumented dynamic penetrometers and discusses experimental studies for various cases. An energy monitoring module was developed to enhance the dynamic penetration tests. The standard penetration test (SPT) and instrumented dynamic cone penetrometer (IDCP) tests were conducted using the energy monitoring module. Dynamic responses obtained by the energy monitoring module were used to calculate the transferred energies into the rod head and tip to correct the evaluation of ground strength. In addition, a crosshole-type dynamic penetrometer (CDP) was developed to measure the penetration index and shear wave velocity simultaneously to estimate the strength and stiffness of ground. The results of this study indicate that smart instrumented dynamic penetrometers may be effectively used to characterize the strength and stiffness of ground.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.15-25
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• 2010

The thin-layered sand seam in clay affects the soil behavior. Although the standard cone penetrometer (A: $10cm^2$) have been used to evaluate the thin-layered soil, the smaller diameter cone penetrometer have been commonly recommended because of the high resolution. The purpose of this study is the development and application of the Cone Resistivity Penetrometer (CRP), which detects qc, fs, and electrical resistivity at cone tip for the evaluation of thin layered soils. Two sizes of the CRP are developed for the laboratory and field test. The projected areas of CRP for the laboratory and field tests are $0.78cm^2$ (d: 1.0 cm) and $1.76cm^2$ (d: 1.5 cm), repectively. The length of friction sleeve is designed in consideration of ratio of the projected area to the friction sleeve area. The application tests are carried out by using the artificially prepared thin-layered soils in the laboratory. In addition, the field tests are conducted at the depth of 6 to 15 m in Kwangyang. In the laboratory test, the measured electrical resistivity and cone tip resistance detect the soil layers. Moreover, in the field test the CRP investigates the three thin-layered soils. This study suggests that the CRP may be a useful tool for detecting thin-layered in soft soils.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.77-86
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• 2008

The disturbance zone and measured values are affected by the size of the penetrometer. The local value may be measured by the smaller penetrometer. An ultra small Micro-Cone penetrometer (5mm in outer diameter) is designed and manufactured to characterize soil properties with minimum disturbance during penetration tests. The tip resistance is measured by using stain gauges attached near the Micro-Cone. In addition, the friction sleeve is adopted to effectively remove the skin friction from the tip resistance. Design concern includes the installation of stain gauges, circuits, penetration systems, penetration rate, sampling rate, operating temperature, and calibration. Application tests show that the clay interface, and the soil layers consisting of clay and sand are clearly detected by the Micro-Cone. Furthermore, the cone tip resistances measured by the Micro-Cone and the miniature cone (16mm in outer diameter) are similar. Note the resolution is much higher in the Micro-Cone. This study shows that the Micro-Cone may effectively detect the soil interface with high resolution, and with minimum disturbance.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.25-34
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• 1998

It is not easy to understand exact soil properties, because soil is nonhomogeneous and anisotropic. There are raany inefficient cases in aspect of time and economy in site survey. So this study tried to analyze the correlation of cone resistance and seismic velocity in order to present an efficient method in ground investigation. A cone penetrometer is frequently used to investigate soil properties, which are especially fit to investigate coastal soft ground. A portable cone penetrometer was used in this research. A portable cone penetrometer has an advantage in investigating the state of soil swiftly and is convenient to manipulate. Also, seismic prospecting is one of the most PoPular methods among geophysical prospecting methods in the estimation of ground properties and its usage is continuously increasing in the survey of soft ground Cone resistance makes a regular group according to stratum in each depth. The results of seismic prospecting show a tendency to have a certain coherence according to the boundary of straturft Therefore, cone resistance and seisrnic prospecting have considerable relations that rnay irnprnve the efficiency of ground investigation.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.5 no.1 s.15
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• pp.35-45
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• 2003

This paper presents a theoretical approach for estimation of CBR-value of subbase course and subgrade using a portable pavement dynamic cone penetrometer(PDCP). The PDCP used in this paper was based on a design from South Africa and extensive studies by Kleyn(1982) and more recently by Liveneh and Ishai(1987) and Chua(1988). To date, California Bearing Ratio[CBR] value was studied mainly for application of pavement structural design. This study was initiated to develop a method of obtaining the in situ CBR-values of subbase and subgrade for the structural evaluation of pavements in the swift and inexpensive manner. PDCP tests were implemented at 20 different kinds of soil samples in the lab and test results were analysed by a theoretical approach introduced. The procedure presented provides acceptable and promising results.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.6 no.3 s.21
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• pp.17-26
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• 2004

The in-situ California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test has been widely used for evaluating the subgrade condition in asphalt concrete pavements. However, because the in-situ CBR test is expensive and takes plenty of time for operation, it is very difficult to figure out the in-situ characteristics of subgrade strength in detail. For faster and economical operation, the Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP) has been often utilized for estimating the subgrade strength in the field. The relationship between the CBR value and DCP index obtained from the DCP testing has been studied using the laboratory and in-situ testing by other foreign researchers. The objective of this study is to determine the relationship between in-situ CBR value and DCP index of the subgrade materials used in Korea. The DCP index for evaluating the strength of subgrade materials produced in Korea is presented in this paper. Research results propose the regression equation to explain the relationship between the CBR and DCP tests. The in-situ CBR values of subgrade materials range from 20 to 45% indicating the good and sound subgrade condition.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.165-177
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• 2015

Purpose: Accurate monitoring of soil strength is a key technology applicable to various precision agricultural practices. Soil strength has been traditionally measured using a cone penetrometer, which is time-consuming and expensive, making it difficult to obtain the spatial data required for precision agriculture. To improve the current, inefficient method of measuring soil strength, our objective was to develop and evaluate an in-situ system that could measure horizontal soil strength in real-time, while moving across a soil bin. Methods: Multiple cone-shape penetrometers were horizontally assembled at the front of a vertical plow blade at intervals of 5 cm. Each penetrometer was directly connected to a load cell, which measured loads of 0-2.54 kN. In order to process the digital signals from every individual transducer concurrently, a microcontroller was embedded into the measurement system. Wireless data communication was used between a data storage device and this real-time horizontal soil strength (RHSS) measurement system travelling at 0.5 m/s through an indoor experimental soil bin. The horizontal soil strength index (HSSI) measured by the developed system was compared with the cone index (CI) measured by a traditional cone penetrometer. Results: The coefficient of determination between the CI and the HSSI at depths of 5 cm and 10 cm ($r^2=0.67$ and 0.88, respectively) were relatively less than those measured below 20 cm ($r^2{\geq}0.93$). Additionally, the measured HSSIs were typically greater than the CIs for a given numbers of compactor operations. For an all-depth regression, the coefficient of determination was 0.94, with a RMSE of 0.23. Conclusions: A HSSI measurement system was evaluated in comparison with the conventional soil strength measurement system, CI. Further study is needed, in the form of field tests, on this real-time measurement and control system, which would be applied to precision agriculture.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.927-935
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• 2011

In-situ California Bearing Ratio(CBR) test has been widely used for evaluating the subgrade condition in pavements. However, because the in-situ CBR test is expensive and takes time for operation, it is difficult to figure out the in-situ characteristics of subgrade strength in detail. For faster and economical operation, the Dynamic Cone Penetrometer(DCP) has been often utilized for estimating the subgrade strength in the field. The purpose of this paper is to determine the relationship between CBR value and DCP index of the embankment constructed with mixtures of soil and waste lime. Waste lime used in this study is producted as a by-product in the manufacturing process of making $Na_2CO_3$ from local chemical factory in Incheon. In this field measurement, the geotechnical tests such as field water content, field density, field CBR test, and dynamic cone penetration test were conducted.