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Effective Use of SPT: Hammer Energy Measurement and Integrated Subsurface Investigation

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Abstract

Standard Penetration Test is a widely used geotechnical exploration test worldwide. SPT is easy to perform and is cost-effective; hence, it has become prevalent. Several factors affect the test results, i.e., the number of blows (N-value) for penetration of the sampler into the soil at any given depth. Among those factors, hammer energy (EH) is the most important. Even though it's important, there have been limited attempts to correlate EH with different subsurface properties, which are later estimated using N-values. Several empirical relations have been developed between N and subsurface properties, both static and dynamic, predominantly in developed countries, which can be used only to a region and a particular EH value. However, the influence of considering proper in-situ hammer energy in these correlations is not clearly understood yet and thus, it is still not practised in many developing countries. This study highlights the importance of hammer energy in N-value corrections and studies the effect of hammer energy on soil properties like low strain shear modulus and SBC values and integrates with the subsurface imaging methods to determine spatial variation of these parameters. The influence of different SPT corrections is studied along with the effect of including energy measurements in analyzing the correlation between the SPT N and soil properties such as, SPT and low strain shear modulus. To address the highly localized interpretation of SPT restricted to a borehole, and to understand the spatial distribution of these design parameters across the study area, a 2D subsurface profile has been generated using geophysical tests, which was later integrated with the borehole data.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Dam Safety (Rehabilitation) Directorate, Central Water Commission for funding the project entitled "Capacity Buildings in Dam Safety" under Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project". The authors also thank SERB, DST for funding the project "Development of correction factors for standard penetration test N-values in India through energy measurement and field experiments – Step toward a reliable Liquefaction Potential Assessment" Ref: SERB/F/198/2017-18 dated 11/05/2017." Author thanks M/s. SECON Private Limited, Bangalore for funding project "Effect of Shear Wave Velocity Calibration on Amplification of Shallow and Deep Soil Sites."

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India

    Panjamani Anbazhagan, Kumar Ayush, M. E. Yadhunandan & Kumar Siriwanth

  2. Central Power Research Institute, Bangalore, India

    Kailasam Suryanarayana & Gade Sahodar

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  1. Panjamani Anbazhagan
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  2. Kumar Ayush
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  3. M. E. Yadhunandan
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Correspondence to Panjamani Anbazhagan.

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Anbazhagan, P., Ayush, K., Yadhunandan, M.E. et al. Effective Use of SPT: Hammer Energy Measurement and Integrated Subsurface Investigation. Indian Geotech J 52, 1079–1096 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40098-022-00609-z

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