Pavement Dynamic Cone Panetrometer

Pavement Dynamic Cone Penetrometer

A simple and robust instrument for rapid in-situ measurement of the structural properties of road pavements.
Provides fast and efficient method of obtaining information.
For continuous measurements up to a depth of 800mm and 1,200 mm with the extension rod.
Portable and can be accommodated in a carrying case.

The Pavement Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP) is a very robust instument, designed for rapid in-situ evaluation of strength of sub- grade and the bases for roads & runway pavements. Continuous measurements can be made down to a depth of 800 mm, or when an extension is fitted, to a depth of 1200 mm. Where pavement layers have different strength, the boundaries can be identified and the thickness of the layers determined.

A typical test takes only a few minutes and the instrument therefore, provides a very efficient method of obtaining information which would normally require test-pits. Correlations have been established between measuremets with DCP and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) so that the result can be interpreted and compared with CBR specifications for pavement design. Agreement is generally good over most of the range but differences are apparent at low values of CBR, especially for fine grained materials.

The design of the pavement DCP is similar to the one descibed by kleyn, Maree and Savage (1982) in their paper. "The application of the pavement DCP to determine the bearing properties and performance of road pavements" published in proceedings of International Symposium on Bearing Capacity of Roads and Airfields, Vol.1. (The Norwegian Institute fo Technology) and developed by TRRL, UK.

It incorporates a 8kg weight dropping through a height of 575 mm and a 60^o cone having a diameter of 20mm. It is supplied complete with assembly tools and weighs 20kg approx.

The DCP needs three operators, one to hold the instrument, other to raise and drop the weight and a technician to record the result. The instrument is held vertically and the weight carefully raised to the handle llimit and then allowed to fall onto the anvil.

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