made to interpret the in-situ test data in terms of measured sediment properties. 

 A purely statistical approach was considered initially but was dismissed in favor 

 of the two approaches presented below. They are highly approximate and 

 include statistical concepts but retain a few of the solid mechanics character- 

 istics thought to be involved in the plate penetration process. These two 

 approaches utilize respectively small and large displacement theory. For 

 small displacements and loads the behavior of saturated soil has been found 

 to be essentially elastic; that is, its stress— strain behavior is approximately 

 described by a unique, reversible relation. For sufficiently small strains this 

 relation is almost linear, and the theory of linear elasticity is applicable. For 

 large loads a situation of steadily increasing strain at constant stress develops. 

 The stress necessary to produce this behavior is known as the failure stress or 

 strength, and a soil media which has been stressed to this point is analyzed 

 according to limiting equilibrium or plastic theory. In soil engineering the 

 foundation load which will cause failure to occur along continuous surfaces 

 in the subsoil is defined as the bearing capacity. 





D = 12in. 















D = 18in. 













0.16 



D 



= 15in. 















= 6 in. 

















= 9 in. 





X 



^A 







0.12 















^ 













^ 



^'^'^ 













^ 































f 

































Settlement (inches) 

 Figure 14. Bearing pressure versus plate settlement for tests at Series III site. 



17 



