Numerical modelling of Cone Penetration Test in Clay using Coupled Eulerian Lagrangian Method

The Cone Penetration Test (CPT) has been extensively used in geotechnical engineering, to evaluate the properties of wide range of soils. Numerical simulations of CPT involves large deformations in the soil domain which causes numerical difficulties in traditional finite element analysis. Early numerical studies used simplifying assumptions such as wished-in-place condition and in-situ stress distribution as the initial stress state of the soil domain. Recent developments in finite element analysis allow large deformation analyses to be performed.
This paper presents the results of the continuous penetration of cone in single-layer and double-layer clay using the Coupled Eulerian Lagrangian (CEL) method. Performance of the CEL technique was in modelling the cone penetration test was validated against the existing studies. Then, a parametric study was performed to develop a correlation between the cone bearing factor and rigidity index of the clay. The proposed correlation showed a very good agreement with the existing experimental and numerical correlations. The cone penetration test in double-layer clay was simulated. The results suggested that CEL analysis is a reliable technique in modelling large deformation problem of cone penetration test.