Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP) Relative Density Correlations for Sands

Abstract

The dynamic cone penetrometer (DCP) is a widely used in-situ device to determine the engineering properties of soils. This paper reports a meta-analysis of laboratory calibration studies to establish a relationship between the rate of penetration and relative density for sands. Fourteen (14) different sands from different geographic and geological settings are compared. A direct relationship between the rate of penetration and relative density is proposed with a standard error in relative density predictions of 11%. A relationship incorporating the sand’s median particle size is also proposed with a standard error in relative density predictions of 9%. Whilst there is good agreement between most of these studies, local conditions should be considered before adopting a proposed correlation in engineering design.