Congratulations for Professor Paul W. Mayne whose paper entitled “Undisturbed sand strength from Geomechanics and Geoengineering journalseismic cone penetration tests” is the No. 1 most read paper in Geomechanics and Geoengineering: An International Journal.
In Dr. Mayne's paper, he addresses a "lack of high-quality sampling and laboratory testing of sands during routine site investigations due to sample disturbance effects and budgetary constraints. By compiling a select database of undisturbed frozen sand samples for calibration of cone penetration test (CPT) interpretative methods, this database is used to evaluate the peak secant friction angle in terms of the normalized cone tip resistance using two analytical approaches: (i) spherical cavity expansion theory with an operational rigidity index, and (ii) a limit plasticity formulation with appropriate angle of plastification. Backfigured values are found correlated to the normalized small-strain stiffness. Thus, with measurements taken of both the initial shear modules and shear strength, seismic cone tests offer the opportunity to derive the entire stress–strain–strength response of sands at all depths."
To download Dr. Mayne's paper, please visit: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17486020601035657.