Soil Stiffness Gauge (SSG) and Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP) tests for estimating engineering properties of weathered sandy soils in Korea

• The repeated tests show acceptable repeatability of ESSG and DPI with low COV.
• The CBR value is well correlated to DPI200.
• The ESSG is linearly proportional to EPLT and it is 1.7 times larger than EPLT.
• The SSG and DCP tests can provide complementary information to estimate e and γd.

Laboratory tests are conducted using nondestructive and penetration methods for in-situ estimation of the engineering properties of weathered sandy soils in Korea. Soil Stiffness Gauge (SSG), Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP), Plate Load Test (PLT), and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) are performed with three uncemented soil groups: poorly graded sand (SP), silty sand (SM), and well-graded sand with silt (SW-SM) that were compacted in a large container. The SSG and DCP results show acceptable repeatability. Dynamic Penetration Index (DPI) and the modulus of elasticity obtained from the SSG test (ESSG) are significantly affected by the water content of SM and SW-SM soils, whereas the SP sample showed no clear effect of water content in either the DPI or ESSG test. Compared with previous reports in the literature, the relationship obtained between CBR and DPI shows a similar trend although at a given DPI it produces significantly larger CBR values. For elastic moduli ESSG is linearly proportional to EPLT and is 1.7 times larger than EPLT. For all three soils considered, the void ratio (e) is linearly proportional to the DPI divided by the median particle size (DPI / D50) while the angle of internal friction is inversely proportional to DPI / D50. The dry density of compacted soil appears to increase nonlinearly with increase in ESSG·D50/e. It is, therefore, concluded that ESSG, DPI, and D50 can provide complementary information for the estimation of void ratio and dry density.