Cylindrical cavity expansion and contraction in Tresca soil

An attraction of the pressuremeter is that this test is a close analogue to cylindrical cavity expansion. Cavity expansion solutions are easy to implement, even with sophisticated soil models and large strain, so pressuremeter data offer the possibility of understanding soil behaviour without reliance on correlations. The self-bored pressuremeter (SBP) adds the attribute of being a near-undisturbed test of the soil in its natural state. Taken together, these attributes differentiate the SBP from other in situ tests, which might lead one to expect widespread adoption of the SBP.

Despite the enthusiasm for the pressuremeter in the 1970s, and four conferences...