This is a method for determining the strength characteristics of soil in situ by measuring the amount of deformation and force when a rigid plate is forced to penetrate the soil. The test is performed on a prepared ground surface. If the prepared soil surface has any hollows or voids, they will be filled with dry sand or crusher dust to prepare a level surface on which to bed the plate. Our plate load test equipment is designed around a hydraulic cylinder and load cell to mobilise 250kN. We have 3 plate sizes:
- 645mm diameter having a 765kPa maximum bearing capacity
- 500mm diameter having a 1270kPa maximum bearing capacity
- 300mm diameter having a 3500kPa maximum bearing capacity
Displacement is measured by four 50mm travel transducers mounted to the rods in the timber beams. Timber is used to minimise thermal distortions.
The sample rate is varied depending on what is happening during the test.
The above example plot is the soil stress against the travel recorded with the displacement transducers.