Fall cone tests on sensitive marine clay: a comprehensive experimental study and its replication with the Generalized Interpolation Material Point Method

Abstract

The paper presents fall cone experiments, their analysis with digital image processing and their replication with the Generalized Interpolation Material Point Method. The fall cone experiments were conducted on a soft and sensitive marine clay sample collected from the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea. The paper presents experiments performed with a 30°, 100g cone, and a 60°, 60g cone dropped from different heights and recorded with a high-speed camera. The tests were supplemented with a laboratory test program to determine the geotechnical properties of the soil used in the tests. The Generalized Interpolation Material Point Method (GIMP) simulations shown in the paper replicate the process of indentation of the cone into the soil: the cone displacement, velocity, acceleration, and reaction force curves obtained with digital image processing. The simulations show that for an accurate replication of the process a strain-rate dependent Tresca constitutive model, extended with strain softening replicating destructuration is sufficient. The study examines the effect of cone geometry, cone mass, cone roughness, impact velocity, mesh density, strain rate and strain softening on the cone penetration process. The simulation results indicate that the presented framework can simulate the dynamic penetration process on soft and sensitive clay very well.