Abstract

Soil characterization by dynamic penetration testing (DPT) has been performed by establishing geotechnical parameters obtained from the application of correlations based on penetration indices, dynamic driving equations and to a lesser extent by direct measurements. This characteristic produces a decrease in the precision and variety of the geotechnical parameters that can be evaluated in the field by means of a DPT. To improve the accuracy in soil characterization, the evaluation of new geotechnical parameters based on measurements directly obtained in the penetration equipment is an alternative. The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology for the evaluation of soil mechanical impedance ???????? by applying a decoupling and wave reconstruction method and to test the differentiating potential of this parameter between two different types of sands. Variable energy DPT tests were performed employing an instrumented penetrometer with strain sensors and accelerometer (PANDA3) on Hostun HN31 and Fontainebleau NE34 sand specimens reconstituted in dry state in a ????0 calibration chamber. The results showed that the evaluation of the mechanical impedance value in the two types of sands tested is possible by applying the decoupling method and recon