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Standard Penetration Test (SPT)

The standard penetration test (SPT) involves driving a sample tube into the ground using repeated blows from a hammer and recording the number of blows required to penetrate each 150mm interval. The sum of blows for the second and third intervals is termed the N-value and provides an indication of soil density. Though simple and inexpensive, SPT results can be used to infer approximate soil strength parameters. However, the test is limited by sample disturbance and difficulties correlating blow counts to properties of intact soil.

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292 views

Standard Penetration Test (SPT)

The standard penetration test (SPT) involves driving a sample tube into the ground using repeated blows from a hammer and recording the number of blows required to penetrate each 150mm interval. The sum of blows for the second and third intervals is termed the N-value and provides an indication of soil density. Though simple and inexpensive, SPT results can be used to infer approximate soil strength parameters. However, the test is limited by sample disturbance and difficulties correlating blow counts to properties of intact soil.

Uploaded by

Ahmad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Standard Penetration Test (SPT)

• The standard penetration test (SPT) is an in-situ dynamic penetration


test designed to provide information on the geotechnical engineering
properties of soil. The test procedure is described in ISO 22476-3,
ASTM D1586 and Australian Standards AS 1289.6.3.1
Procedure
• The test uses a thick-walled sample tube, with an outside diameter of 50.8 mm and an inside
diameter of 35 mm, and a length of around 650 mm.

• This is driven into the ground at the bottom of a borehole by blows from a slide hammer with a mass of
63.5 kg (140 lb) falling through a distance of 760 mm (30 in).

• The sample tube is driven 150 mm into the ground and then the number of blows needed for the tube to
penetrate each 150 mm (6 in) up to a depth of 450 mm (18 in) is recorded. The sum of the number of
blows required for the second and third 6 in. of
penetration is termed the "standard penetration resistance" or the "N-value".

• In cases where 50 blows are insufficient to advance it through a 150 mm (6 in) interval the penetration
after 50 blows is recorded.

• The blow count provides an indication of the density of the ground, and it is used in many empirical
geotechnical engineering formulae.
Working Of SPT
Purpose of SPT
The main purpose of the test is to provide an indication of the relative density of granular
deposits, such as sands and gravels from which it is virtually impossible to obtain undisturbed
samples.
• The great merit of the test, and the main reason for its widespread use is that it is simple and
inexpensive.

• The soil strength parameters which can be inferred are approximate, but may give a useful
guide in ground conditions where it may not be possible to obtain borehole samples of
adequate quality like gravels, sands, silts, clay containing sand or gravel and weak rock.

• In conditions where the quality of the undisturbed sample is suspect, e.g., very silty or very
sandy clays, or hard clays, it is often advantageous to alternate the sampling with standard
penetration tests to check the strength.

• If the samples are found to be unacceptably disturbed, it may be necessary to use a different
method for measuring strength like the plate test
When the test is carried out in granular soils below groundwater level, the soil may become
loosened. In certain circumstances, it can be useful to continue driving the sampler beyond the
distance specified, adding further drilling rods as necessary.

• The usefulness of SPT results depends on the soil type, with fine-grained sands giving the most
useful results, with coarser sands and silty sands giving reasonably useful results, and clays and
gravelly soils yielding results which may be very poorly representative of the true soil conditions.

Soils in arid areas, such as the Western United States, may exhibit natural cementation. This
condition will often increase the standard penetration value
Correlation With Soil Mechanical Properties
• Despite its many flaws, it is usual practice to correlate SPT results with soil properties relevant
for geotechnical engineering design.

• SPT results are in-situ field measurements, and not as subject to sample disturbance, and are
often the only test results available, therefore the use of correlations has become common
practice in many countries.
Reasons

The results are limited to whole numbers for a specific driving interval, but with very low blow
counts, the granularity of the results, and the possibility of a zero result, makes handling the data
cumbersome (difficult to use).

In loose sands and very soft clays, the act of driving the sampler will significantly disturb the
soil, including by soil liquefaction of loose sands, giving results based on the disturbed soil
properties rather than the intact soil properties.
Limitations

• The Standard Penetration Test recovers a highly disturbed sample, which is generally not
suitable for tests which measure properties of the in-situ soil structure, such as density, strength,
and consolidation characteristics.

• This results in blow counts which are not easily converted to SPT Nvalues - many conversions
have been proposed, some of which depend on the type of soil sampled, making reliance on blow
counts with non-standard samplers problematic.

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