Marchetti flat blade dilatometer test DMT

The flat dilatometer test covers the determination of the in situ strength and deformation properties of fine grained soils using a blade shaped probe having a thin circular steel membrane mounted flush on one face.

Results of flat dilatometer tests are mostly to obtain information on soil stratigraphy, in situ state of stress, deformation properties and shear strength.

Flat Dilatometer Test (DMT) can serve the functions and advantages which CPT (Static Cone Penetration Test) and PMT (Pressure meter Test) have. DMT provides investigators with a fast, accurate and economic measurement and testing data with unique features such as excellent repeatability, minimized effect by human mistake, automatically acquired & stored. Besides, special DMT data processing system (including software) can communicate with data acquisition system. DMT can apply to all clay, silt and sandy soil layers.

Pressure range: 0 -4MPa, available depth: 0 -50m (even deeper for soft earth)

DMT can supply the investigator with many important parameters as follows: lateral pressure coefficient Ko , pore water pressure U , untrained shear strength Cu , effective angle of internal friction Î¦ , coefficient of subgrade reaction Kn , over-consolidation ratio OCR , compression modulus, modulus of elasticity , shear modulus, layer classification ,compaction control, unit weight, determination of liquefaction of saturated soil and so on. Generally the flat dilatometer can be pressed into earth by CPT machine, and can also by the hammer of SCPT machine .