Evaluation on undrained shear strength of marine soil using cone penetration resistance in Zhujiang River mouth basin, South China Sea

Abstract

This paper compares and evaluates the results of piezocone penetration test (PCPT) data at three typical measurement points in northern continental slope (1 300-1 500m water depth) in Baiyun Sag, Zhujiang River Mouth Basin, South China Sea, and determines the cone factors between 7.48-9.98 and 14.93-19.78 respectively. Some researchers have studied the relationships between cone penetration data and mechanics parameters about marine soil based on linear regression. In this regard, polynomial regression is developed instead of conventional simple linear regression analysis in order to correlate undrained shear strength and total cone tip resistance more precisely. The polynomial regression offers a considerable improvement in estimating undrained shear strength based on cone penetration test data and can predict undrained shear strength with minimum error in comparison with conventional simple linear regression ways.