The flat dilatometer(DMT) has been practically used as an in-situ test equipment. It is a simple, rapid and cost-effective tool to characterize the in-situ stress-strain-strength properties of various types of ground materials. However, the results of flat DMT should be validated with considerable data with respect to reference values of the specific sites.
In this study, the applicability of existing relationships which were established for other local deposits is verified by performing the tests in several clay deposits in KOREA. To compare with the DMT results, field vane tests and cone penetration tests were also carried out in the field as reference tests, and unconsolidated undrained tests, oedometer tests, and other fundamental material properties tests were conducted on the thin-walled tube samples in the laboratory.
The results of the flat DMT combined with empirical correlations are used to estimate soil types, unit weights, coefficients of lateral earth pressure at rest, overconsolidation ratios, constrained moduli and undrained shear strengths of three clay local deposits. It was found that various geotechnical properties estimated from the flat DMT generally well agree with those from by the reference tests.