Interpretation of incomplete dissipation data from piezocone tests

The piezocone has been widely used as a tool for identifying and profiling soft soils, but it can also be used to determine the coefficient of consolidation of cohesive deposits. Conventional methods of interpretation require, however, that pore pressure measurements during the dissipation stages of a test are carried on until a very large proportion of the excess pore pressure has decayed, and are thus generally time-consuming. This paper reports a faster method, which uses shorter, incomplete dissipation data.