Estimation of pressuremeter modulus and limit pressure from Cone Penetration Test for desert sands Bashar Tarawneh a,⇑ , Andrey Sbitnev b , Yasser Hakam b a Civil Engineering Department, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan b Menard Vibro Middle East, Dubai, United Arab Emirates highlights  CPT-PMT pairs were collected from locations in the Gulf Cooperation Countries.  Regression analysis is employed to generate formulas that can predict P L and E P .  A separate data set was used to verify the developed regression formulas  Calculated P L and E P were employed to estimate the settlements.  Measured settlements from a load test were compared with the estimated ones. article info Article history: Received 12 August 2017 Received in revised form 28 January 2018 Accepted 1 March 2018 Keywords: CPT PMT Settlements Sand abstract Pressuremeter Test (PMT) is comparatively expensive and takes more time to execute compared to Cone Penetration Test (CPT). Regression analysis is employed to generate formulas that can predict the limit pressure (P L ) and the pressuremeter modulus (E P ) from CPT. A total of 126 CPT-PMT pairs of desert dune sand soils were used to develop those formulas. Proposed formulas were verified using a separate data set that was not used in the analysis and were compared with previously published equations. The P L and E P resulting from the developed formulas show a good correlation with the measured ones. Additionally, measured settlements from a load test was compared with the estimated ones using the PMT method proposed by Menard (1975) utilizing P L and E P values calculated using the developed formulas. A good agreement between the predicted and measured settlements is presented in this research. Ó 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd. 1. Introduction Field and laboratory tests are the primary methods to deter- mine soil parameters. Designers usually prefer in-situ tests due to disturbance of laboratory samples. Also, it is difficult to obtain undisturbed field samples of granular soil to perform laboratory tests. As a result, field tests are necessary for geotechnical explo- ration to define the engineering characteristics of the soil. The Pressuremeter Test (PMT) is a robust field test to gather information about the strength and deformation of soils and weak rocks. The test is unique because it can be performed in soft clays to weak rock. The stress strain curve can be derived from PMT; not just a single value of an engineering property. PMT is compara- tively expensive and takes more time to perform compared to the Cone Penetration Test (CPT). PMT results are usually used to calculate foundation settlement using the method proposed by Menard [1]. On the other hand, CPT is a simplistic, immediate, gives contin- uous soil profile, and inexpensive in-situ test used to define the engineering properties of the soil. However, CPT is not suitable for rocks. Foundation settlements are usually estimated based on CPT results using popular methods presented by Schmertmann’s [2], Meyerhof’s [3], and DeBeer’s [4]. CPT is a reasonably cheap and regular part of most geotechnical exploration programs, while PMT is relatively expensive and most of the time is not performed in small size projects. Therefore, developing a correlation between CPT and PMT is useful to estimate the PMT modulus and limit pres- sure from CPT data. CPT-PMT correlations assist geotechnical engi- neers in assessing, comparing, and interpreting or cross-checking the soil parameters gathered from these two tests. The GCC (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, and Qatar) have a tropical desert climate. The weather is remarkably hot and humid, and most days are sunny throughout the year. During the summertime, the temperature may reach https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.03.015 0950-0618/Ó 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd. ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail address: btarawneh@ju.edu.jo (B. Tarawneh). Construction and Building Materials 169 (2018) 299–305 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Construction and Building Materials journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat