Aproximate Method for Estimating the Strength of Cohesive Materials from Penetrator Decelerations

Using the approximate relationship between shear strength, S, and penetrator deceleration, D, S~KD the shear strength of cohesive soils may be closely estimated (an explicit form of K is given in the paper). The calculated values of S lie between the peak undisturbed and the remolded values, and closely approximate the values obtained in conventional boring/sampling/testing procedures. For gassy soils at depth off- shore, penetrator-calculated values of shear strength may be more representative of in-situ strengths than conventionally measured strengths. The use of penetrators to augment offshore geophysical surveys greatly increases the value of those surveys.