EQUIPMENT DESCRIPTION 



The XSP (Figure 2) is a static cone penetrometer consisting of two 

 major components: a 50-foot tall, 10,000-pound structure containing the 

 cone penetrometer and an instrumentation console. In operation, the 

 structure is set on the seafloor to perform a cone penetrometer 

 sounding, while the instrumentation console located on the ship's deck 

 is used to control and monitor the sounding and record the data. The 

 data are later analyzed to determine soil characteristics and design 

 parameters. 



The structure is composed of a structural frame, a cone penetrom- 

 eter, a drive mechanism for the cone penetrometer, and a water- jetting 

 system for assisting penetration. The water jet is a feature not found 

 on any other cone penetrometer. The structure's components and the 

 instrumentation console are described in the following sections. 



Structural Frame 



The steel structural frame (Figure 2) supports the cone penetrom- 

 eter and provides a place to mount the motor and driving mechanism. 

 This frame has three main structural parts: a square, table-like base; 

 four support legs attached to the base with steel pins; and a tall, 

 central H-beam bolted to the base. The base is approximately 4 ft 2 and 

 3 feet tall. Mounted on the top of the base are the electrical junction 

 box to which all the electrical cables connect, the motor, and the gear 

 box. On the bottom of the base is a space to add 1 ton of steel plate 

 ballast. The legs are sturdy frames 4 feet wide and 8 feet long, pinned 

 in place on the base. One of these legs is easily collapsed so it will 

 fold up while pinned in place, allowing the structure to be either laid 

 down on a ship's deck or hung close against the side of a ship. Since 

 all four legs are similarly pinned to the base, this collapsible leg can 

 be placed on any side of the base, depending on how the XSP will be 

 placed on and deployed from the support vessel. All of the legs can 

 also be unpinned at the top of the base and stretched out along the beam 

 to make the structure more compact for shipping. The 20-foot span 

 across the legs provide a stable base for the upright structure. The 

 total bearing area provided by the bottom of the base and the pads on 

 each leg is sufficient to support the structure on a very soft clay 

 (about 0.5-psi shear strength). A central H-beam supports the push rods 

 and parts of the rod's driving mechanism. The height of the H-beam can 

 be changed to allow the XSP to operate in either a 40- foot or 20- foot 

 soil penetration mode, in which the XSP stands 50 and 30 feet tall, 

 respectively. 



Cone Penetrometer 



The cone penetrometer (Figure 2) consists of two components: the 

 push rods and the cone unit. The latter contains the electrical cone 

 penetrometer tip. The push rods are 10-foot sections of Acker 

 2-1/4-inch 0D AW flush-joint drill casing. Four push rods are used in 

 the 40-foot mode and two in the 20-foot mode. The waterproof electrical 

 cord to the cone unit runs inside the rods. 



