An integration of shallow depth geophysics

The purpose of this thesis is to integrate the geophysical data gathered along side a future road construction site. The gathered data consists of: surface elevation data, CPT”s and several types of electrical and geoelectrical measurements. The data has been integrated both in a qualitative and in a quantitative way. For the qualitative...

Influence of multiple thin soft layers on the cone resistance in intermediate soils

In this thesis research is presented on the influence of multiple thin soft layers on the cone resistance and an attempt has been made to develop a correction factor from numerical and physical models. The presence of thin layers causes difficulties with determination of the liquefaction potential of sand deposits containing thin clay layers...

Analysis of the quantity of CPTs in relation to the inner slope stability

The introduction of the new 'Waterwet' led to the retesting of a lot of primary flood defences within the Netherlands, sequentially certifying a lot of levees as unsafe regarding inner slope stability. To test or design a levee an adequate amount of soil investigation is required to indicate the presence of different soil types, stratification...

Development of a new CPT averaging technique and review of existing CPT based methods for the calculation of total pile capacity

Over the last couple years, a number investigations into the α factors used for the cone penetration test (CPT) based calculation methods for the base and shaft capacity of driven piles have been carried out. These investigation, express different concerns and limitation of the currently used CPT based calculation methods. Prompting the need for...

Design of a Miniature Cone Penetrometer: Design and Calibration of a Miniature Cone Penetration Test Device for the Geo-Technical Centrifuge of Delft University of Technology

The aim of this project is to elaborate upon the design proposal of a miniature cone penetration test device. The usage of CPTs in the geotechnical centrifuges has proven to be a reliable experimental method. The usage of a CPT in a centrifuge can provide determinant results for many applications of geotechnical experimentation. The usage of...

Secondary settlement of dikes in peat areas based on CPTu

This study aims for a software tool that predict secondary settlements in soft layers on which secondary dikes are founded based on cone penetration test data. In the literature study five equations have been found that relate cone resistance and friction ratio to volumetric weight and over consolidation ratio. With the volumetric weight and...

Quantifying track condition based on soil properties

Soil is an important part of a railway track structure. It provides the foundation for the structure and distributes the imposed loads. Consequently, soil has an influence on the condition of a track structure and a low quality soil can ultimately cause failure of the track structure. To be able to include the condition of a soil in the...

Probabilistic identification of soil stratigraphy using CPT data

The deterministic approach for interpreting CPT soil profiles poses the serious limitation of not taking data uncertainty into account. Therefore, a Bayesian model was developed by Wang et al. (2013) that, for a given CPT profile, determines the most probable number of soil layers and most probable soil layer thicknesses by simulating and...

Modelling a Cone Penetration Test in Dry Sand using the Material Point Method: A State-Dependent Constitutive Model Approach

The numerical modelling of a cone penetration test (CPT) has long been a challenging task due to the large deformations associated with the penetration of a CPT. Recent developments in advanced numerical methods have shown promising results in overcoming these difficulties by using the Material Point Method (MPM). In this thesis it is researched...

Reliability Analysis of Foundation Pile Designs from Eurocode 7

Risk-based and probabilistic reliability design methods are starting to be integrated into the daily geotechnical engineering practice, as shown by the current draft of EN1997 (Eurocode 7), which explicitly allows Reliability-based verification of limit states. The semi-probabilistic design methods in EN1997 are a compromise between ease of use...

Characterizing the soil uncertainty in the Port of Rotterdam for the probabilistic design of a pile foundation

The Port of Rotterdam (PoR) is the largest port in Europe and in order to maintain its status, it would need to expand. For the expansion, an extensive survey of the subsurface is needed for the construction of new port areas and its geotechnical structures. As part of designing the geotechnical structures, the subsurface is often modelled as...

Probabilistic classification of soils based on Local Average Subdivision method and CPT data

A random field generator based on Local Average Subdivision (LAS) method is proposed in this study in order to achieve probabilistic soil classification and quantify the uncertainty of the generated most probable geological cross section. CPT data and Robertson’s soil classification chart (1990) are adopted to classify the soil. The sole...

Application of the Heat Flow Cone Penetration Test to measure the thermal conductivity of offshore soils

Interpretation of the thermal properties of soils is an important challenge in the field of geo-engineering, for example the development of geothermal energy solutions and for the design of electricity cable routes used for offshore wind farms. Of the thermal properties, the thermal conductivity is of most interest to find, as this determines...

Resistance of closed-ended piles in a layered soil: A comparison of existing base and shaft capacity methods based on the measured jacking force

Foundations of buildings ensure the safety and serviceability are upheld. A common type of<br/>foundations used in the Netherlands is pile foundations which are typically founded on a thick sand layer in the subsurface. These pile foundations are the focus of this thesis and more specifically the methods used to design such foundations. This...