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Soil identification by vibration measurements during soil-rock sounding

Time: Fri 2022-04-22 13.00

Location: B3, Brinellvägen 23, Stockholm

Video link: https://kth

Language: English

Subject area: Civil and Architectural Engineering, Soil and Rock Mechanics

Doctoral student: Editha Ehrmanntraut , Jord- och bergmekanik

Opponent: Dr Jörgen Johansson, Norges Geotekniske Institut, Oslo, Norge

Supervisor: Professor Stefan Larsson, Jord- och bergmekanik

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QC 20220329

Abstract

Dynamic penetration tests are frequently used as geotechnical site investigation methods. In Sweden, the main reason to choose a dynamic penetration method is to investigatedepth to bedrock, strength and deformation properties of soil, compaction, or pilingdepth. The advantage of dynamic penetration methods is that they have a betterpenetration ability than static methods and it is therefore easier to penetrate hardmaterial or rock.The most common dynamic penetration method in Sweden is soil-rock sounding. Duringsoil-rock sounding, a metal rod is drilled into the ground and measurements are taken ofdepth, drilling resistance, sinking speed, feeding force, hammer pressure, and rotationalspeed and pressure. The method is conducted in different classes with varying accuracies.Soil-rock sounding is mainly used to determine depth to bedrock, but as the drilling rodpenetrates the whole soil layer profile, there may be opportunities to gain moreknowledge about the penetrated material using the same process.The scope of this licentiate research project was to investigate whether vibrationmeasurements on the ground surface performed simultaneously with soil-rock soundingcan yield additional information about the soil layer profile and the thin layers within amaterial. Measurements were conducted in various building and infrastructure projectsin eastern Sweden between Norrköping and Stockholm/Solna and the results wereanalyzed. It was investigated whether there is a relationship between the vibration resultsand soil properties as determined by other geotechnical investigation methods in thesame area.The results show that soil-rock sounding with simultaneous vibration measurementsconstitutes a promising extension of the conventional soil-rock sounding method whichcan provide additional information about the soil layer profiles at the investigation site.Furthermore, indications can be made about overall soil layer profiles. However, thevibration signals must be adjusted due to distance attenuation before results fromdifferent depths, boreholes and sites are comparable.

The different penetrated materials and their properties are correlated to the frequencycontent of the vibration signal. In this way, more information about the penetratedmaterial can be gained from the vibration measurements. The results show thatheterogeneities in the penetrated soil layer can clearly be seen in the vibration results andpatterns in these heterogeneities identified. Furthermore, the results indicate that thevibration signals can help to distinguish silt from sand/gravelly soil and boulder from rock,and the ground water table can be seen in the frequency spectrogram for granular soils.

urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-310137

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Last changed: Apr 21, 2022