Embedded type new in-situ soil stiffness assessment and monitoring technique

We aimed to assess the evolution of small-strain stiffness and relative density in non-compacted embankment layers. We developed embedded type in-situ soil stiffness measurement devices for monitoring small-strain stiffness occurring after filling at a test site and conducted comprehensive laboratory compaction tests using an oedometer cell with a bender element. However, direct comparison is extremely difficult because the shear wave velocity measured in the field and laboratory depend on depth and effective stress, respectively. Therefore, we propose a method for establishing a relationship between effective stress and depth using a compressibility model. In this study, the shear wave velocity measured in the field was compared to the estimated shear wave velocity-depth profiles for completely dry and saturated conditions with different relative densities. The relative density under saturated soil conditions may vary between 50% and 90% and tends to be closer to 95%. Under dry soil conditions, the relative density of the embankment can vary from 30% to 70% and tends to approach 76%. For model validation, the relative density estimated from shear wave velocity-depth profiles was compared to that estimated from DCPI data. In other words, the results analyzed in the context of an effective stress-depth model enable the prediction of engineering properties such as the small-strain stiffness and relative density of embankment layers. This study demonstrates that physics-based data analyses successfully capture the relative density of non-compacted embankment layers.