Sub Soil Exploration: Part-5

CE3350: Geotechnical Engineering

August – December 2021

K. Rajagopal
Professor & P.K. Aravindan Institute Chair
Department of Civil Engineering
I.I.T. Madras, Chennai 600 036
e-mail: gopalkr@[Link]
September 6, 2020
 Review of previous classes

 Site reconnaissance
 Geophysical tests – electrical resistivity &
seismic refraction tests
 Sounding tests – DCPT, SCPT & LCPT
 How to decide the plan locations of
boreholes & depth of investigation
 Different methods of forming boreholes

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 Different methods of drilling boreholes

 Auger boring
 Shell augering
 Wash boring
 Rotary drilling

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 Types of soil samples
• Undisturbed soil sample: particle arrangement, water
content and mineral content are not disturbed during
sample collection – most difficult to obtain
• Representative soil sample: particle arrangement is
disturbed while the water and mineral contents are not
disturbed
• Unrepresentative soil sample: soil sample is
completely mixed up and fully disturbed

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 Uses for different types of soil samples
• Undisturbed soil samples: can be used to determine
all soil properties like index properties, strength
properties, permeability, consolidation, chemical
nature, etc.
• Representative soil samples: used for water content
determination, determination of index properties,
particle size distribution, chemical nature of soil, etc.
• Unrepresentative soil samples: not suitable for any
tests; used only for identification purposes
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Soil property Type of sample required
Water content Representative/Undisturbed
Specific gravity Representative/undisturbed
Grain size distribution Representative/undisturbed
Shear strength Undisturbed
Permeability Undisturbed
Atterberg limits Representative/undisturbed

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 Types of soil samplers
• Open tube samplers – good for cohesive soils
• Piston samplers – good for extremely soft clays,
watery samples & sands
• Rotary samplers – for cutting rock core samples;
usually these are double barrel type with rotating outer
barrel and stationary inner barrel for holding the
sample
• Freezer samplers – watery samples could be frozen in
situ to retrieve them from the ground without much
disturbance
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 Sample collection
• Soil sampler is gently pushed into the ground under static load
after cleaning the boreholes of all loose debris
• Thin walled steel cylinders are used to minimize the sample
disturbance
• Once the samplers are taken out of the ground, both ends are
sealed with wax to minimize sample disturbance during transport
to the laboratory
• Soil samples are labelled to include borehole number, depth of
sample, date & time of collection
• Soil samples are transported to the laboratory in the same steel
samplers they are collected in
• They are carefully removed in the laboratory before testing
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 Quality of soil sample
𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒
• Recovery ratio, Lr =
𝑝𝑢𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑟
• Good sample recovery is when Lr  1
• Loss of soil sample when Lr < 1 (significantly less than
1)
• Swelling of soil sample when Lr > 1
• Soil samples may swell when collected from deep depths
due to release of in situ overburden pressure
• If swelling is too high, soil samples may break up even
before testing in the laboratory
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 Sampling tube (IS 2132)
D T
Dc = inner diameter of cutting shoe
Dw = outer diameter of cutting shoe
Ds Sampling
Ds = inner diameter of sampling tube tube
DT = outer diameter of sampling tube

Inner side of sampling tube should

be smooth and well polished; grease
is applied to reduce friction
Cutting
shoe
Ds is slightly more than Dc to allow for
swelling of soil sample during collection;
to also minimize friction during sampling
Dc
Dw is slightly more than DT
Dw
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 𝐷𝑠 −𝐷𝑐
• Inside clearance, CI = × 100%
𝐷𝑐
𝐷𝑊 −𝐷𝑇
• Outside clearance, Co =  100%
𝐷𝑇
2
𝐷𝑊 − 𝐷𝑐2
• Area ratio, Ar =  100%
𝐷𝑐2

Inside clearance allows for expansion of soil as the sample enters

the sampling tube; reduces the frictional drag on the sample from
the wall friction – in the range of 1 to 3%
Outside clearance enables the easy withdrawal of sampler tube
from the ground, Co is slightly more than CI
Ar is the area ratio and controls the strength of the cutting edge; it is
too large it becomes blunt; if it is too less, edge might break
Ar should be about 20% for stiff formations & about 10% for soft
soils
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 IS: 2132 Thin walled sampling tubes

Inside diameter 38 mm 70 mm 100 mm

Outside diameter 40 mm 74 mm 106 mm
Min. effective length 300 mm 450 mm 450 mm
available for soil
sample
Area ratio 10.9% 11.8% 12.4%

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Standard Penetration Test (SPT) IS2131
• Common test that helps in assessing the in situ
strength & collecting representative soil sample
• Performed inside a borehole at different depths
• Suitable for all types of soils
• A longitudinally split cylinder of about 508 mm length
is attached to a thick walled driving shoe (IS9640)
• The cylinder & driving shoe are of standard
dimensions
• The sampler is driven into ground under standard
energy
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 Standard energy
• 63.5 kg mass
• Fall height is 750 mm
• Number of blows for penetration into soil is
measured during the test

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 SPT Test
• Test is conducted at every 750 mm to 1500 mm depth
intervals or whenever there is a change in soil stratum
• Borehole is advanced to the required test depth
• Drill rods are removed from borehole & drill bit is
removed. Then the Split spoon sampler is attached to
bottom of standard drill rods and lowered into the borehole
for the test
• After the test, soil sample is carefully collected from split
spoon sampler in a plastic bag. A tag is placed indicating
the borehole number, depth of test, date & time of test &
visual identification about the type of soil sample
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 Procedure of test
• The split spoon sampler is driven into soil using the
blows from 63.5 kg hammer falling from 750 mm height
• The sampler is first driven into soil by 150 mm distance.
The number of blows for this is treated as seating drive.
• Next, the sampler is driven into ground by another 300
mm in stages of 150 mm. The number of blows for each
150 mm distance are counted separately.
• Number of blows for each 150 mm penetration is
reported as SPT resistance, e.g. 08/20/35 where the first
8 blows are treated as seating drive
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 SPT resistance
• The sum total for the last 300 mm penetration is reported
as SPT resistance, 20+35 = 55
• Some times, the entire drill rod assembly with split spoon
sampler might sink into ground without any blows, the
resistance in such case is reported as “0”
• When ground is very hard, sampler may not penetrate into
ground; it is reported as rebound/refusal
• If even after giving large number of blows, the penetration
does not reach 300 mm, the number of blows &
corresponding penetration is reported as SPT resistance,
i.e. 100 blows for 50 mm penetration
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 Termination of borehole
• The borehole should continue up to the required depth
where the pressure reduces to a small percentage of surface
pressure
• Usually borehole is terminated only when the SPT
resistance from tests performed at three continuous depths
is more than 50 or 100.
• If sampler cannot be driven to full 300 mm depth, the
number of blows and corresponding penetration is reported
• If ground is too soft, the entire drill rod assembly might sink
into ground without control. The SPT resistance is reported
as zero in such case
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 Precautions during SPT
• Borehole should be cleaned to remove all debris at
bottom of borehole

• Split spoon sampler and driving shoe should be of

standard dimensions as per IS 6940

• Drill rods should be of standard dimensions and

should not be bent

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 Precautions during SPT
• If the borehole is lined, the test needs to be
performed below the depth of liner – otherwise the
test is conducted inside a soil plug in the liner
leading to misleading results

• The water level in borehole should be slightly above

the GWL in the surrounding soil – if water levels are
too different, quick conditions may happen at the
bottom of borehole

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SPT Hammer
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Fixing of SPT hammer
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Performing the Standard Penetration Test
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Removing split spoon sampler after SPT
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Soil being collected from split spoon cylinder – notice the
cutting edge placed on the front side separately
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 Summary
Type of soil samples, sampling equipments,
methodology & SPT are discussed

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