Pressuremeter

The pressuremeter test is an in-situ testing method used to determine the stress-strain response of the tested soil. The pressuremeter test, also known as the “Ménard Pressuremeter” (MPM) test, is performed by applying pressure to the sidewalls of a borehole and recording the corresponding deformation. The test procedure involves drilling a borehole and placing a pressuremeter probe to the required depth.  The probe consists of three inflatable cells which are filled with water and gas. A control unit is set up near the borehole to pump water and gas while recording the measurements. As the pressure increases, the borehole walls deform. The pressure is held constant for a given period and the increase of the volume required for maintaining the constant pressure is recorded. The interpreted results are used to estimate the soil’s stiffness, strength, and the “at-rest horizontal earth pressure”.

Top 10 Papers on the Pressuremeter

Recommended list of publications on the pressuremeter by Professor Jean-Louis Briaud, Professor and Holder of the Buchanan Chair, Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University.

• Baguelin F., Jezequel J.-F., Shields D.H., 1978, "The Pressuremeter and Foundation Engineering", TransTech Publications, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany.

• Mair R.J., Wood D.M., 1987, "Pressuremeter Testing: Methods and Interpretation", CIRIA, Butterworths, London, UK.

• Briaud J.-L., 1992, "The Pressuremeter", A.A. Balkema, Brookfield, VT, USA.

• Wroth C.P., Hughes J., 1973, "An Instrument for the In Situ Measurement of the Properites of Soft Clays, Int. Conf. Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Moscow.

• Menard L., 1975, "The Menard Pressuremeter: Interpretation and Application of the Prsssuremeter Test Results to Foundations Design", Sols-Soils, No. 26, Paris, France.

• Aubeny, C.P., Whittle, A.J., and Ladd, C.C. “Effects of disturbance on undrained strengths interpreted from pressuremeter tests,” ASCE J. Geotech. and Geoenv. Engrg., Vol. 126, No. 12, pp. 1133-1144, 2000.

• Briaud J.L., “SALLOP: Simple Approach for Lateral Loads on Piles,” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Vol. 123, No. 10, pp. 958-964, ASCE, New York, October 1997.

• Briaud J.L., Jeanjean P., 1994, “Load Settlement Curve method for Footings on Sand,” Proceedings of the ASCE Specialty Conference “Settlement 94” at Texas A&M University, 40, USA.

• Baguelin F., Bustamante M., Frank R.A., 1986, "The Pressuremeter and Foundations: French Experience", Use of In Situ Tests in Geotechnical Engineering, ASCE Geotechnical Special Publication no. 6, ASCE, Reston, Virginia, USA.

• Hughes J.M.O., Wroth G.P., Windle D., 1977, "Pressuremeter Tests in Sand", Geotechnique, Vol.27, No.4, Institution of Civil Engineers, London, UK.