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The Standard Penetration Test

The Standard Penetration Test (SPT) is a common and inexpensive in situ method to determine soil properties including relative density. It involves driving a split spoon sampler into the ground using a slide hammer, and recording the number of blows required to penetrate each 150mm interval to a depth of 450mm. The sum of blows for the second and third intervals is reported as the N-value, which provides an indication of soil density and can be empirically correlated to shear strength. However, results may not be accurate for very loose or soft soils that are significantly disturbed by the driving of the sampler.

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206 views3 pages

The Standard Penetration Test

The Standard Penetration Test (SPT) is a common and inexpensive in situ method to determine soil properties including relative density. It involves driving a split spoon sampler into the ground using a slide hammer, and recording the number of blows required to penetrate each 150mm interval to a depth of 450mm. The sum of blows for the second and third intervals is reported as the N-value, which provides an indication of soil density and can be empirically correlated to shear strength. However, results may not be accurate for very loose or soft soils that are significantly disturbed by the driving of the sampler.

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Lai Yen
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The Standard Penetration test (SPT) is a common in situ testing method used to determine

the geotechnical engineering properties of subsurface soils and provide an indication of the
relative density of granular deposits, such as sands and gravels from which it is virtually
impossible to obtain undisturbed samples. Besides that it is a simple and low cost test to
estimate the relative density of soils and approximate shear strength parameters.

The main purpose of the test is The great merit of the test, and the main reason for its
widespread use is that it is simple and inexpensive. The soil strength parameters which can
be inferred are approximate, but may give a useful guide in ground conditions where it may
not be possible to obtain borehole samples of adequate quality like gravels,
sands, silts,clay containing sand or gravel and weak rock. In conditions where the quality of
the undisturbed sample is suspect, e.g. very silty or very sandy clays, or hard clays, it is
often advantageous to alternate the sampling with standard penetration tests to check the
strength. If the samples are found to be unacceptably disturbed, it may be necessary to use
a different method for measuring strength like the plate test. When the test is carried out in
granular soils below groundwater level, the soil may become loosened. In certain
circumstances, it can be useful to continue driving the sampler beyond the distance
specified, adding further drilling rods as necessary. Although this is not a standard
penetration test, and should not be regarded as such, it may at least give an indication as to
whether the deposit is really as loose as the standard test may indicate.
The usefulness of SPT results depends on the soil type, with fine-grained sands giving the
most useful results, with coarser sands and silty sands giving reasonably useful results, and
clays and gravelly soils yielding results which may be very poorly representative of the true
soil conditions. Soils in arid areas, such as the Western United States, may exhibit natural
cementation. This condition will often increase the standard penetration value.
The SPT is used to provide results for empirical determination of a sand layer's susceptibility
to earthquake liquefaction, based on research performed by Harry Seed, T. Leslie Youd, and
others.

Procedure
The test uses a thick-walled sample tube, with an outside diameter of 50 mm and an inside
diameter of 35 mm, and a length of around 650 mm. This is driven into the ground at the
bottom of a borehole by blows from a slide hammer with a mass of 63.5 kg (140 lb) falling

through a distance of 760 mm (30 in). The sample tube is driven 150 mm into the ground and
then the number of blows needed for the tube to penetrate each 150 mm (6 in) up to a depth
of 450 mm (18 in) is recorded. The sum of the number of blows required for the second and
third 6 in. of penetration is termed the "standard penetration resistance" or the "N-value". In
cases where 50 blows are insufficient to advance it through a 150 mm (6 in) interval the
penetration after 50 blows is recorded. The blow count provides an indication of
the density of the ground, and it is used in many empirical geotechnical engineering
formulae.
Standard Penetration Test, SPT, involves driving a standard thick-walled sample tube into the
ground at the bottom of a borehole by blows from a slide hammer with standard weight and
falling distance. The sample tube is driven 150 mm into the ground and then the number of
blows needed for the tube to penetrate each 150 mm (6 in) up to a depth of 450 mm (18 in)
is recorded. The sum of the number of blows required for the second and third 6 in. of
penetration is reported as SPT blowcount value, commonly termed "standard penetration
resistance" or the "N-value".

Correlation between SPT-N value, friction angle, and relative density


Correlation between SPT-N value and friction angle and Relative density
(Meyerhoff 1956)
SPT N3
[Blows/0.3 m - 1 ft]

Soil packing

Relative
Density [%]

Friction angle
[]

<4

Very loose

< 20

< 30

4 -10

Loose

20 - 40

30 - 35

10 - 30

Compact

40 - 60

35 - 40

30 - 50

Dense

60 - 80

40 - 45

> 50

Very Dense

> 80

> 45

The N-value provides an indication of the relative density of the subsurface soil, and it is
used in empirical geotechnical correlation to estimate the approximate shear strength
properties of the soils.

The method cannot collect accurate data for weak soil layers for several reasons:
1. The results are limited to whole numbers for a specific driving interval, but with very
low blow counts, the final blow may drive the sampler significantly past the limit of
the driving interval.

2. In loose sands and very soft clays, the act of driving the sampler will significantly
disturb the soil, including by soil liquefaction of loose sands, giving results based on
the disturbed soil properties rather than the intact soil properties.

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