Design of IGM Socketed Drilled Shafts Using Texas Cone Penetrometer Tests

Modern methods for designing IGM(Intermediate Geomaterial) socketed drilled shafts require knowledge of the compressive strength and modulus of the IGM. However, the weathered IGMs at many sites prohibit the recovery of samples of sufficient length and integrity to test cores in either unconfined or triaxial compression tests. Since rational design procedures usually require values of compressive strength, surrogate methods must be employed to estimate the compressive strength of the IGM. A surrogate method considered in this study was Texas cone penetrometer tests which were performed at several sites in North Central Texas. Correlations of Texas cone penetrometer tests and compressive strengths of cores from these formations are provided in the paper. In order to develop the relationships between Texas cone penetrations and side and base resistance of IGM socketed drilled shafts, three filed load tests were conducted in the same sites. Based on the field study and literature reviews, a design method for IGM socketed drilled shafts using Texas cone penetration test was proposed.