Fyp 3

INVESTIGATION OF GEOTECHNICAL PARAMETERS OF
CLAY SOIL USING FLAT PLATE DILATOMETER

INTRODUCTION
Soil quantity parameters like unit weight and soil strength parameters like shear strength and
constrained modulus are useful in evaluating and design of bearing capacity and settlement.
Soil investigations to obtain these parameters are done in laboratory after disturbance is
induced during boring to access the test depth and sampling.
In recommendations given in the state of art at Geotechnical World Conference(Paul,
Mathew, Sarah, Huang, & Jorge, 2009) indicate that direct-push in situ test like the Flat
Dilatometer Test (DMT), advantageously replace routine soil investigations and save cost and
time while investigating penetrable soils. This is because the flat dilatometer can capture
multiple soil behavior during a single sounding.
The flat blade dilatometer is an equipment consisting of a flat blade with a thin expandable
membrane mounted on one face and a dilatometer control box. During operation, the blade
shaped steel probe is inserted vertically into the soil and gas is allowed through pneumatic
tubes to inflate the membrane and exert pressure to the soil at which readings are obtained
from the control box at the surface during sounding.
The Flat dilatometer test is rarely done in Tanzania despite being a standardized test
incorporated in American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM D6635-15, 2015),
European standards (EUROCODE-7, 1997) and International Organization for
Standardization (ISO 22476-11, 2017) .Knowledge on the existence and use of the flat
dilatometer equipment in obtaining geotechnical properties of soil may likely be the future of
geotechnical investigations . The report introduces the the flat dilatometer test to obtain
geotechnical soil parameters of clay and show the uniqueness of the flat dilatometer in
obtaining profile of the geotechnical properties over the entire depth of DMT sounding.
Problem Statement
To determine reliable and repeatable engineering properties of clay soil has been a challenge
to engineers. In Tanzania the Standard Penetration Test is widely used despite being
unreliable to obtain results in cohesive soils and little repeatability of results. The problems
seem to even multiply further when laboratory tests are used to obtain the remaining
parameters that cannot be established using the SPT. This include excess labor required to
sample, transport and carry out the soil tests, skilled personnel required to conduct the tests in
laboratory and with scarce soil test equipment and few soil laboratories that are present in
Tanzania. The scarcity of the laboratories in rural areas require long distance transportation of
the samples to soil laboratories that induce disturbance to the sampled clay. Great cost is
incurred as a consequence in soil investigation to cover cost in obtaining the necessary
number of samples, transportation cost and payment to skilled personnel to carry out the soil
tests. All this process takes a lot of time that would have been used in other phases of
construction.
To address the challenges an alternative test method need to be used that uses less labour, can
be done quickly, obtains multiple engineering parameters of clay soil at an instant without
sampling or use of laboratory equipment and still give reliable and repeatable results.
OBJECTIVES
MAIN OBJECTIVES
The main objective is to use the flat blade dilatometer to investigate engineering
properties of clay in the field and hence establish the reliability of the flat dilatometer by
comparing the results with those from the laboratory tests.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
Specific objectives of this project are as follows
i. To calibrate the dilatometer equipment
ii. To determine DMT parameters during sounding
iii. To obtain geotechnical soil parameters from DMT parameters
METHODOLOGY
i. Literature review on the flat dilatometer equipment
ii. Operation of the dilatometer blade prior to the field
iii. Site selection and visit
iv. field investigation of clay soil
v. laboratory testing of soil properties
vi. analysis of obtained results
vii. discussion of the resuts
viii. generating a report
i.
SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
The scope of the project is limited to use of the flat dilatometer in investigation of engineering
properties of clay soil at Dar Es Salaam near CoET soil investigation laboratory. The
geotechnical parameter of clay to be investigated are unit weight of clay (γ), Vertical Drained
Confined Modulus (M), undrained shear strength (Su), Coefficient of earth pressure (Ko) and
overconsolidation ratio (OCR).
EXPECTED RESULTS
The results obtained from this study include unit weight (γ), Vertical Drained Confined
Modulus (M), undrained shear strength (Su), Coefficient of earth pressure (Ko) and
overconsolidation ratio (OCR) of clay at depth interval of 0.2m and their respective profile
showing variation of the above properties with depth.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESULTS
The results obtained from this study can be used to determine settlement of a shallow
foundation for a structure or embankment placed on the investigated site. The results can also
be referred to in making engineering decisions to use the flat blade dilatometer in
investigating similar engineering properties of clay in other sites.
PROJECT BUDGET
The proposed budget for the FYP
S/N ACTIVITY QUANTITY RATE(TSH) COSTS(TSH)
1 Gas tank 1
2 Drill rig
3 sampling process 4 samples
4 laboratory testing 3 tests
5 stationery 200 pages
6 Internet services 7 months
TOTAL

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INVESTIGATION OF GEOTECHNICAL PARAMETERS OF

CLAY SOIL USING FLAT PLATE DILATOMETER

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