Comparison of measured and back estimated cone penetration resistance of sand

The application of cavity expansion theory in the back estimation of cone penetration tests conducted in calibration chambers has been carried out by many researchers. However, the theory is seldom employed by centrifuge modelers. Based on the work of spherical cavity expansion of previous researchers, this study proposed an analytical solution that incorporates the effects of cone geometry and surface roughness and the effect of compressibility to estimate the cone tip resistance. The calculated results are compared with the measured cone penetration resistance of four cone penetration tests performed in the centrifuge. The cone penetration tests were conducted in granular soil specimens having relative densities ranging between 54% and 89%. The comparison demonstrates the capacity of the cavity expansion theory in the prediction of the centrifuge cone penetration resistance.