Excess Pore Pressure Induced by Cone Penetration in OC Clay

A series of calibration chamber tests are performed to investigate the spatial distribution of the excess porewater pressure due to piezocone penetration into overconsolidated clays. It was observed that the excess porewater pressure increases monotonically from the piezocone surface to the outer boundary of the shear zone and then decreases logarithmically, approaching zero at the outer boundary of the plastic zone. It was also found that the size of the shear zone decreases from approximately 2.2 to 1.5 times the cone radius with increasing OCR, while the plastic radius is about 11 times the piezocone radius, regardless of the OCR. Based on the modified Cam clay model and the cylindrical cavity expansion theory, the expressions to predict the Initial porewater pressure at the piezocone were developed, considering the effects of the strain rate and stress anisotropy. The method of predicting the spatial distribution of excess porewater pressure proposed in this study was verified by comparing it with the porewater pressure measured in overconsolidated specimens in the calibration chamber.