Quantitative assessment of temperature effect on cone resistance

The measurements of a strain gauge type cone penetrometer are influenced by the temperature change during penetration. A real-time temperature compensation technique using a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor is suggested to correct the effect of temperature on cone tip resistance. A 7-mm micro cone penetrometer equipped with FBG sensors and electrical strain gauges was developed to evaluate the suggested technique. Design concepts include the cone configuration, sensor installation and the temperature compensation process. It is shown that the measured cone tip resistance is significantly affected by the temperature; the error increasing with increasing temperature change. The cone tip resistance measured by the FBG sensor is effectively corrected by the real-time compensation method. The q_c profile of the strain gauge indirectly corrected by the re-penetration test is quite similar to the real-time compensated profile. It is concluded that the proposed real-time temperature compensation using the FBG sensor is an effective technique to obtain reliable cone tip resistance profiles.