Technology showcase electronic penetrometer for field tests

The design and construction of a cone penetrometer for field use is described. The penetrometer is mounted on a frame to which two wheels are fitted for towing the device from one test site to the next. An electric motor drives the penetrometer during the test and simultaneous readings are performed of both cone depth and penetration resistance. The device weighs 70 kg and the maximum force on the cone typically exceeds 1.2 kN. The acquired data are transferred to a microcomputer and after each penetration the result is presented to the operator in graphic form. The microcomputer is equipped with a fairly large RAM memory which serves as storage medium for data during measuring work. Afterwards, data are easily moved to a mainframe computer for analysis.