Impact penetrometer for Characterizing Soil Properties

The primary objective of the proposed effort is to design an impact penetrometer system and analysis method, capable of being deployed remotely by air to a known location at controlled impact velocity, to determine near surface soil geotechnical properties in soft muddy substrates, submerged regions, and soils extending from the waterline to the exits off the beach. From these measurements we intend to infer soil cohesion, internal friction, bearing capacity and qualitative soil density (dense, medium, and loose) to depth on the order of 0.15 m (6 in) to 1 m (40 in). Generally, this depth horizon is the upper 0.15 m (6 in) determines the ability of a soil to support a vehicle’s load for a limited number of passes and soil properties to about 0.4 m (12 in) need to be know to characterize soil response to multiple vehicle passes (of up to 50 vehicle passes) over the soil (Wong, 2001). In particular, 2-3 different penetrometer systems will be designed and then downselected to one based on complexity (number of sensors) and cost.