612

Characterization of geotechnical variability

Kok-Kwang Phoon and Fred H. Kulhawy

Abstract: Geotechnical variability is a complex attribute that results from many disparate sources of uncertainties. The
three primary sources of geotechnical uncertainties are inherent variability, measurement error, and transformation
uncertainty. Inherent soil variability is modeled as a random field, which can be described concisely by the coefficient
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of variation (COV) and scale of fluctuation. Measurement error is extracted from field measurements using a simple
additive probabilistic model or is determined directly from comparative laboratory testing programs. Based on an
extensive literature review, the COV of inherent variability, scale of fluctuation, and COV of measurement error are
evaluated in detail, along with the general soil type and the approximate range of mean value for which the COVs are
applicable. Transformation uncertainty and overall property uncertainty are quantified in a companion paper.

Key words: inherent soil variability, measurement error, coefficient of variation, scale of fluctuation, geotechnical vari-
ability.
Rsum : La variabilit gotechnique est un caractre complexe qui rsulte de nombreuses sources dincertitudes. Les
trois causes principales dincertitude gotechnique sont la variabilit intrinsque, lerreur de mesure et lincertitude de
transformation. La variabilit intrinsque peut-tre modlise par un champ alatoire pouvant tre dcrit succinctement
par le coefficient de variation (COV) et lchelle de fluctuation. Lerreur de mesure est extraite des relevs en place, en
utilisant un modle probabiliste simple additif. Elle peut aussi tre dtermine directement par des programmes dessais
comparatifs de laboratoire. A partir dun examen fouill de la littrature, le COV de variabilit intrinsque, lchelle de
fluctuation et le COV de lerreur de mesure ont t valus en dtail, de mme que le type gnral de sol et la plage
For personal use only.

approximative des valeurs moyennes sur laquelle on peut appliquer les COV. Lincertitude de transformation et
lincertitude gnrale sur la proprit tudie sont quantifies dans un papier conjoint.
Mots cls : variabilit intrinsque su sol, erreur de mesure, coefficient de variation, chelle de fluctuation, variabilit
gotechnique.
[Traduit par la Rdaction] Phoon and Kulhawy 624

Introduction site. In the absence of site-specific data, or where the soil

data are too limited for meaningful statistical analyses to be
Since the early 1980s, an extensive research study to de- performed, guidelines on the probable range of soil property
velop a sound reliability-based design (RBD) approach for COV are useful as first-order approximations. Even when
foundations has been in progress at Cornell University under there is sufficient information for statistical analyses, a more
the sponsorship of the Electric Power Research Institute. As robust estimate of geotechnical variability can be obtained
a part of this RBD methodology, it was necessary to estab- by combining the site-specific data with prior information
lish realistic statistical estimates of the variability of design from these generalized guidelines using Bayesian updating
soil properties. A series of five studies on geotechnical techniques. Details on the application of Bayesian tech-
variabilities (Spry et al. 1988; Orchant et al. 1988; Filippas niques to site characterization are described elsewhere (e.g.,
et al. 1988; Kulhawy et al. 1992; Phoon et al. 1995) was Spry et al. 1988; Filippas et al. 1988) and are not repeated
conducted to quantify realistic best case and worst case herein. Finally, the establishment of typical soil property
scenarios and provide property guidelines for the calibration COV values would help design engineers develop an appre-
of the RBD equations. These results are useful for all types ciation for the probable range of variability inherent in the
of RBD studies. For foundations, extensive calibration stud- overall estimation of common design soil properties and
ies by Phoon et al. (1995) indicated that the foundation re- therefore identify atypical geotechnical variabilities.
sistance factors in the RBD equations are functions of the Unfortunately, a number of the soil property statistics re-
design soil property coefficient of variation (COV). ported in the geotechnical literature are not suitable for this
Ideally, a designer should select the appropriate resistance general use, primarily because they were determined from
factors based on the variability of the soil data at a specific total variability analyses that implicitly assume a uniform

Received March 11, 1998. Accepted February 16, 1999.

K.-K. Phoon. Department of Civil Engineering, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260.
F.H. Kulhawy.1 School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hollister Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca,
NY 14853-3501, U.S.A.
1
Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed.

Can. Geotech. J. 36: 612624 (1999) 1999 NRC Canada

 Phoon and Kulhawy 613

Fig. 1. Uncertainty in soil property estimates (source: Kulhawy 1992, p. 101).

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Fig. 2. Inherent soil variability. of equipment and procedural control, and precision of the
correlation model. Therefore, soil property statistics that are
determined from total variability analyses only can be ap-
plied to the specific set of circumstances (site conditions,
measurement techniques, correlation models) for which the
design soil properties were derived.
In this paper, the inherent soil variability is modeled as a
random field, which can be described concisely by the COV
For personal use only.

and the scale of fluctuation. Measurement error is extracted

from field measurements using a simple additive probabilis-
tic model or is determined directly from comparative labora-
tory test results. Based on an extensive literature review, the
COV of inherent variability, the scale of fluctuation, and the
COV of measurement error are evaluated in detail, along
with the general soil type and the approximate range of
mean value for which the COVs are applicable. A compan-
ion paper (Phoon and Kulhawy 1999) discusses the transfor-
mation uncertainty and illustrates how these component
uncertainties can be combined consistently, for a variety of
common soil parameters, to quantify the variability of de-
sign soil properties for general geotechnical use.

Modeling inherent soil variability

source of uncertainty. However, geotechnical variability is
more complex and results from many disparate sources of Soil is a complex engineering material that has been
uncertainties, as illustrated in Fig. 1. As shown, the three formed by a combination of various geologic, environmen-
primary sources of geotechnical uncertainty are inherent tal, and physicalchemical processes. Many of these pro-
variability, measurement error, and transformation uncer- cesses are continuing and can be modifying the soil in situ.
tainty. The first results primarily from the natural geologic Because of these natural processes, all soil properties in situ
processes that produced and continually modify the soil will vary vertically and horizontally. As shown in Fig. 2, this
mass in situ. The second is caused by equipment, proce- spatial variation can be decomposed conveniently into a
duraloperator, and random testing effects. Collectively, smoothly varying trend function [t(z)] and a fluctuating com-
these two sources can be described as data scatter. In situ ponent [w(z)] as follows:
measurements also are influenced by statistical uncertainty [1] (z) = t(z) + w(z)
or sampling error that result from limited amounts of infor-
mation. This uncertainty can be minimized by taking more in which is the in situ soil property, and z is the depth. The
samples, but it is commonly included within the measure- fluctuating component defined in eq. [1] represents the in-
ment error at this time (Kulhawy 1992). The third source of herent soil variability.
uncertainty is introduced when field or laboratory measure- A rational means of quantifying inherent variability is to
ments are transformed into design soil properties using em- model w(z) as a homogeneous random function or field
pirical or other correlation models. The relative contribution (Vanmarcke 1983). The function w(z) is considered to be
of these three sources to the overall uncertainty in the design statistically homogeneous if (i) the mean and variance of w
soil property clearly depends on the site conditions, degree do not change with depth; and (ii) the correlation between

1999 NRC Canada

 614 Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 36, 1999

Fig. 3. Estimation of vertical scale of fluctuation (source: Spry tional details on modeling inherent soil variability can be
et al. 1988, p. 2-12). found elsewhere (e.g., Vanmarcke 1977; Baecher 1985; Spry
et al. 1988; Filippas et al. 1988).

Coefficient of variation of inherent soil

variability
An extensive literature review was conducted to estimate
the typical COV values of inherent soil variability. However,
this task was complicated because most COVs reported in
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the geotechnical literature are based on total variability anal-

yses, as noted above. Therefore, the reported COVs may be
considerably larger than the actual inherent soil variability
because of four potential problems: (i) soil data from differ-
ent geologic units are mixed, (ii) equipment and procedural
controls generally are insufficient, (iii) deterministic trends
the deviations at two different depths is a function only of in the soil data are not removed, and (iv) soil data are taken
their separation distance, rather than their absolute positions. over a long time period.
Note that this correlation is a measure of linear dependence The first problem can be minimized by ensuring that the
between two random quantities and varies between +1 and 1. soil data are classified properly into geologic units before
A correlation of +1 or 1 implies that a perfect linear rela- statistical analyses are performed (Morse 1971). In the ab-
tionship exists between the two random quantities, with the sence of relevant documentation, it is reasonable to assume
sign indicating a positive or negative slope. The condition of that soil data taken over restricted locales and limited depth
constant mean can be satisfied if the data are detrended as intervals are sufficiently homogeneous for the evaluation of
shown in Fig. 2. In fact, the mean of w is a constant value of inherent variability.
For personal use only.

zero, because it is fluctuating equally about the trend line. The second problem is related to measurement errors,
Aside from a constant mean, the fluctuations also should be which should be separated from inherent variability if the
approximately uniform to satisfy the variance and correla- statistical results are to be extended for general use (e.g.,
tion conditions given above. Fluctuations in the soil property Baecher 1985; Orchant et al. 1988). A detailed discussion on
profile are likely to be uniform if the data are extracted from measurement errors is given later in this paper. Documenta-
a homogeneous soil layer. tion on equipment and procedural controls during soil test-
For data sets that satisfy the above conditions, the inherent ing usually is not detailed sufficiently to permit a
soil variability can be evaluated in a straightforward manner. quantitative evaluation of measurement errors. However, it is
First, the standard deviation of the inherent soil variability reasonable to assume that measurement errors are minimal
(SDw) is evaluated as for soil data obtained in research programs, where good
n equipment and procedural controls are likely to be main-
[w(zi)] 2
1
[2] SDw = tained (Orchant et al. 1988).
n 1 i =1 The third problem, which concerns the removal of deter-
ministic trends from the soil data, is not well recognized.
in which n is the number of data points, and w(zi) is the fluc- Consider a hypothetical soil property that varies linearly
tuation at depth zi. Then a more useful dimensionless repre- with depth with no random fluctuations about the linear
sentation of inherent variability can be obtained by trend. The soil property takes on the values of 10, 20, and
normalizing SDw with respect to the mean soil property 30, at depths of 1, 2, and 3, respectively. If the obvious lin-
trend (t) as follows: ear trend is not removed, the sample mean and standard de-
SDw viation of the data set would be evaluated as 20 and 10,
[3] COVw =
t respectively. Therefore, the COV of the soil data is 50%. A
properly detrended data set, however, would reveal that the
in which COVw is the coefficient of variation of inherent fluctuations are zero at all three depths, and the inherent
variability. variability clearly is zero. A number of the statistical analy-
Another statistical parameter that is needed to describe in- ses reported in the geotechnical literature are based on the
herent variability is the correlation distance or scale of fluc- original data set, rather than the detrended data set. From a
tuation (Fig. 2), which provides an indication of the distance rigorous statistical point of view, the results from such anal-
within which the property values show relatively strong cor- yses do not represent inherent soil variability, unless the
relation. A simple but approximate method of determining original data set contains no obvious trends. This situation is
the scale of fluctuation is given by Vanmarcke (1977) as not likely, because most soil properties exhibit variations
[4] v 0.8 d with depth to some degree. However, the depth variation
might not be significant if the sampling interval is suffi-
in which v is the vertical scale of fluctuation, and d is the ciently small. Under this condition, the COV of the data set
average distance between intersections of the fluctuating would be a valid, albeit approximate, indicator of inherent
property and its trend function, as shown in Fig. 3. Addi- variability.

1999 NRC Canada

 Phoon and Kulhawy 615

Table 1. Summary of inherent variability of strength properties (source: Phoon et al. 1995, p. 4-7).

No. of data No. of tests per group Property value Property COV (%)
a
Property Soil type groups Range Mean Range Mean Range Mean
su(UC) (kN/m2) Fine grained 38 2538 101 6412 100 656 33
su(UU) (kN/m2) Clay, silt 13 1482 33 15363 276 1149 22
su(CIUC) (kN/m2) Clay 10 1286 47 130713 405 1842 32
su (kN/m2)b Clay 42 24124 48 8638 112 680 32
() Sand 7 29136 62 3541 37.6 511 9
() Clay, silt 12 551 16 933 15.3 1050 21
() Clay, silt 9 1741 33.3 412 9
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tan (TC) Clay, silt 4 0.240.69 0.509 646 20

tan (DS) Clay, silt 3 0.615 646 23
tan b Sand 13 6111 45 0.650.92 0.744 514 9
a
su, undrained shear strength; , effective stress friction angle; TC, triaxial compression test; UC, unconfined compression test; UU, unconsolidated
undrained triaxial compression test; CIUC, consolidated isotropic undrained triaxial compression test; DS, direct shear test.
b
Laboratory test type not reported.

Fig. 4. COV of inherent variability of su versus mean su. Laboratory strength properties
Table 1 summarizes the available data on the inherent
variability of the undrained shear strength, effective stress
friction angle, and tangent of the effective stress friction an-
gle. Full details are given elsewhere (Phoon et al. 1995).
Where possible, the test types are reported because the test
boundary conditions can have a considerable effect on the
undrained shear strength and the friction angle (e.g.,
For personal use only.

Kulhawy and Mayne 1990). Unfortunately, not all the data

can be classified properly, because the importance of report-
ing test types with the strength properties is only gradually
being recognized. Table 1 also summarizes the general soil
type, the number of data groups and tests per group, and the
mean and COV of the soil property. A description of soil
type is useful because the site-specific COVs tabulated can
be extrapolated to other locations, provided the soil deposits
are of similar geologic formation and environmental history
(Kay and Krizek 1971; Vanmarcke 1978, 1989; Tang 1984).
The fourth problem is associated with the variation of soil The number of tests is a useful indicator of the accuracy of
properties with time. If the samples were collected over a the mean and COV estimates. The number of tests per group
period of 12 weeks, the soil properties may be regarded as typically is fairly large, which implies that the errors in the
time-invariant (Rthti 1988). However, over longer time pe- statistical estimates are minimal. The presentation of the
riods, additional variability could be introduced into the data mean in conjunction with the COV also is important to en-
set because of the changes in the soil mass occurring with sure that the COV is not misinterpreted as being applicable
time. This variation with time can be rather significant (e.g., to all possible mean values.
McCormack and Wilding 1979; Reyna and Chameau 1991).
Unfortunately, most studies do not report the time frame Undrained shear strength
over which the soil data are collected. Therefore, it is not The variation of the COV of inherent variability of the un-
possible to determine if the temporal changes in the soil drained shear strength (su) is plotted versus the mean su in
mass are significant. Fig. 4. The lower bound of the COV remains relatively con-
The reported COVs in the geotechnical literature were ex- stant at about 10% over the range of mean values shown.
amined critically based on the considerations given above. In However, the upper bound on the COV seems to decrease
general, only the COVs of soil data from similar geologic with increasing mean. The effect of test type on the COV
origins that were collected over limited spatial extents with also can be seen. The typical ranges of COV for unconfined
good equipment and procedural controls were considered to compression tests (UC), unconsolidatedundrained triaxial
be representative of inherent soil variability. However, the compression tests (UU), and consolidated isotropic undrained
problems associated with extraneous sources of variability triaxial compression tests (CIUC) are 2055%, 1030%, and
could not be removed completely because of limited docu- 2040%, respectively. The differences between UU and CIUC
mentation. Therefore, the COVs should be somewhat higher tests are particularly evident because the soil types corre-
than those representing inherent soil variability alone. This sponding to these two tests are primarily London Clays.
limitation applies to all the inherent variability results pre- Therefore, the differences in COV cannot be attributed to the
sented later in the paper. differences in the soil types used in the various tests. More

1999 NRC Canada

 616 Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 36, 1999

Table 2. Summary of inherent variability of index parameters (source: Phoon et al. 1995, p. 4-16).

No. of data No. of tests per group Property value Property COV (%)
Propertya Soil typeb groups Range Mean Range Mean Range Mean
wn (%) Fine grained 40 17439 252 13105 29 746 18
wL (%) Fine grained 38 15299 129 2789 51 739 18
wP (%) Fine grained 23 32299 201 1427 22 634 16
PI (%) Fine grained 33 15299 120 1244 25 957 29
LI Clay, silt 2 32118 75 0.094 6088 74
(kN/m3) Fine grained 6 53200 564 1420 17.5 320 9
d (kN/m3) Fine grained 8 4315 122 1318 15.7 213 7
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Dr (%)c Sand 5 3070 50 1136 19

Dr (%)d Sand 5 3070 50 4974 61
a
wn, natural water content; wL, liquid limit; wP, plastic limit; PI, plasticity index; LI, liquidity index; , total unit weight; d, dry unit weight; Dr, relative
density.
b
Fine-grained materials derived from a variety of geologic origins, e.g., glacial deposits, tropical soils, and loess.
c
Total variability for direct method of determination.
d
Total variability for indirect determination using standard penetration test (SPT) values.

Fig. 5. COV of inherent variability of versus mean . Fig. 6. COV of inherent variability of wn versus mean wn.
For personal use only.

data on other soil types are needed to confirm this observa- Laboratory index parameters
tion. The inherent variability of some common index parame-
ters is summarized in Table 2, along with the soil type, num-
Friction angle ber of data groups and tests per group, and the mean and
COV of the index parameter. Full details are given elsewhere
The variation of the COV of inherent variability of the ef-
(Phoon et al. 1995).
fective stress friction angle () is plotted versus the mean
in Fig. 5. Both the COV of and tan are plotted. There is Natural water content
no apparent difference between the COV of these two pa- The variation of the COV of inherent variability for the
rameters. The effect of soil type on the COV also is illus- natural water content (wn) is plotted versus the mean wn in
trated in Fig. 5, in which the soil type is classified broadly Fig. 6. No trends in the COV are present as the mean varies
into sand and clay. The COV for clay generally is higher from 13 to 105%. The typical range of COV for wn is be-
than that for sand. A possible reason for this effect can be tween 8 and 30%.
found in eq. [3], which states that the COV is inversely pro-
portional to the mean if the standard deviation (SD) is a con- Liquid and plastic limits
stant. This relationship is plotted in Fig. 5 for two constant The variations of the COV of inherent variability for the
SD values of 1.5 and 5.0. It is evident that this range of liquid limit (wL) and plastic limit (wP) are plotted versus the
standard deviation is applicable to both sand and clay. mean wL and wP in Fig. 7. As with wn, no trends in the COV
Therefore, the differences in the COV for sand and clay pri- are present as the mean wL and wP vary from 27 to 89% and
marily are caused by the differences in the mean friction an- 14 to 27%, respectively. The typical range of COV is be-
gle. Note that the differences in the COV for sand and clay tween 6 and 30% for both index parameters, which is com-
only are apparent because the mean friction angles of the parable to that for wn.
clays shown in Fig. 5 are very low. For most soils, the mean
friction angle typically is between 20 and 40. The COV Plasticity and liquidity indices
within this range of mean friction angle essentially is 515%. The variations of the COV of inherent variability for the
1999 NRC Canada
 Phoon and Kulhawy 617

Fig. 7. COV of inherent variability of wL and wP versus mean Fig. 9. COV of inherent variability of and d versus mean
wL and wP. and d.
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Fig. 8. COV of inherent variability of PI and LI versus mean PI Fig. 10. COV of inherent variability of Dr versus mean Dr.
and LI.
For personal use only.

tive density Dr appears to be lacking. A statistical analysis

plasticity index (PI) and liquidity index (LI) are plotted ver- on the total variability of Dr suggests that the range of COV
sus the mean PI and LI in Fig. 8. As with , the smaller is between 11 and 36% for the direct method of determina-
COVs at larger mean values are primarily the result of divid- tion (Haldar and Tang 1979). However, the COV varies with
ing a relatively constant standard deviation by larger means. the mean, as shown in Fig. 10. Most of the variation in the
The larger COVs in Fig. 8 typically are associated with COV can be adequately explained using eq. [3] with a stan-
smaller means for the converse reason. By plotting eq. [3] dard deviation of 8%. Figure 10 also presents the results of a
onto Fig. 8, it can be seen that a relatively limited range of statistical analysis on the total variability of Dr for an indi-
standard deviation (312%) can explain the large variations rect method of determination using standard penetration test
in the COV. This typical range of standard deviation appears N values (Haldar and Miller 1984). The COVs are much
to be applicable to both PI and LI. However, this observa- higher, which is to be expected. The COV decreases almost
tion only can be considered as tentative, because the statisti- linearly from 74% for a mean Dr of 30% to 49% for a mean
cal data on LI are too limited. Dr of 70%.

Total and dry unit weights Field measurements

The variations of the COV of inherent variability for the The inherent variabilities of some common field measure-
total unit weight () and dry unit weight (d) are plotted ver- ments are summarized in Table 3. Full details are given else-
sus the mean and d in Fig. 9. The typical COVs for both where (Phoon et al. 1995). Note that there are important
parameters are less than 10%. No trends in the COV can be subdivisions within each field test. For example, cone tip re-
observed as the mean varies from about 13 to 20 kN/m3. The sistance qc can be measured using a mechanical or electric
two outliers with COV of 20% are associated with the tidal cone. However, these subdivisions cannot be established at
swamp and tropical soils of Nigeria (Ejezie and Harrop- this time because of inadequacies in the data base. The soil
Williams 1984). type, number of data groups and tests per group, and the
mean and COV of the field measurement also are summa-
Relative density rized in Table 3.
Statistical information on the inherent variability of rela- The COV of inherent variability for these test measure-
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 618 Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 36, 1999

Table 3. Summary of inherent variability of field measurements (source: Phoon et al. 1995, p. 4-10).

Test No. of data No. of tests per group Property value Property COV (%)
typea Property b
Soil type groups Range Mean Range Mean Range Mean
CPT qc (MN/m2) Sand 57 102039 115 0.429.2 4.10 1081 38
CPT qc (MN/m2) Silty clay 12 3053 43 0.52.1 1.59 540 27
CPT qT (MN/m2) Clay 9 0.42.6 1.32 217 8
VST su(VST) (kN/m2) Clay 31 431 16 6375 105 444 24
SPT N Sand 22 2300 123 774 35 1962 54
SPT N Clay, loam 2 261 32 763 32 3757 44
DMT A (kN/m2) Sand to clayey sand 15 1225 17 641335 512 2053 33
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DMT A (kN/m2) Clay 13 1020 17 119455 358 1232 20

DMT B (kN/m2) Sand to clayey sand 15 1225 17 3462435 1337 1359 37
DMT B (kN/m2) Clay 13 1020 17 502876 690 1238 20
DMT ED (MN/m2) Sand to clayey sand 15 1025 15 9.446.1 25.4 992 50
DMT ED (MN/m2) Sand, silt 16 10.453.4 21.6 767 36
DMT ID Sand to clayey sand 15 1025 15 0.88.4 2.85 16130 53
DMT ID Sand, silt 16 2.15.4 3.89 848 30
DMT KD Sand to clayey sand 15 1025 15 1.928.3 15.1 2099 44
DMT KD Sand, silt 16 1.39.3 4.1 1767 38
PMT pL (kN/m2) Sand 4 17 16173566 2284 2350 40
PMT pL (kN/m2) Cohesive 5 1025 4282779 1084 1032 15
PMT EPMT (MN/m2) Sand 4 5.215.6 8.97 2868 42
a
CPT, cone penetration test; VST, vane shear test; SPT, standard penetration test; DMT, dilatometer test; PMT, pressuremeter test.
b
For personal use only.

qc, CPT tip resistance; qT, corrected CPT tip resistance; su(VST), undrained shear strength from VST; N, SPT blow count (number of blows per foot or
per 305 mm); A and B, DMT A and B readings; ED, DMT modulus; ID, DMT material index; KD, DMT horizontal stress index; pL, PMT limit stress;
EPMT, PMT modulus.

ments has been discussed by Phoon and Kulhawy (1996) Table 4. Summary of scale of fluctuation of some geotechnical
and will not be repeated herein. However, since these spe- properties (source: Phoon et al. 1995, p. 4-20).
cialty conference proceedings have rather limited circulation
No. of Scale of fluctuation (m)
internationally, it is wise to repeat key data where pertinent.
a
Therefore, the basic data plots of COV of inherent variabil- Property Soil type studies Range Mean
ity versus the mean in situ tests parameters are given in the Vertical fluctuation
Appendix. These data support the interpretations given in su Clay 5 0.86.1 2.5
Table 3. qc Sand, clay 7 0.12.2 0.9
qT Clay 10 0.20.5 0.3
su(VST) Clay 6 2.06.2 3.8
Scale of fluctuation N Sand 1 2.4
An extensive literature review was conducted to estimate wn Clay, loam 3 1.612.7 5.7
the typical scales of fluctuations for a variety of common wL Clay, loam 2 1.68.7 5.2
geotechnical parameters. The results of this review are sum- Clay 1 1.6
marized in Table 4. Full details are given elsewhere (Phoon Clay, loam 2 2.47.9 5.2
et al. 1995). The scales of fluctuation are generally calcu- Horizontal fluctuation
lated using the method of moments. Information on the soil qc Sand, clay 11 3.080.0 47.9
type and the direction of fluctuation also are included in the qT Clay 2 23.066.0 44.5
table. It is apparent that the amount of information on the su(VST) Clay 3 46.060.0 50.7
scale of fluctuation is relatively limited in comparison to the wn Clay 1 170.0
amount of information on the COV of inherent soil variabil- a
su and su (VST), undrained shear strength from laboratory tests and
ity. Therefore, the observations given below should be vane shear tests, respectively; , effective unit weight.
viewed with caution, because there seldom are enough data
to establish their generality on a firm basis.
The vertical scale of fluctuation (v) for the undrained tween 2 and 6 m. The upper bound of this range appears to
shear strength is on the order of 12 m, although it can be as be somewhat larger than that for the laboratory measurement
large as 6 m. For the cone tip resistance, v typically is less of the undrained shear strength. The single reported value of
than 1 m. The value of v for the corrected cone tip resis- v for the standard penetration test N value falls within the
tance seems to be smaller than the corresponding v value previously noted range of 26 m. For the index parameters,
for the uncorrected cone tip resistance. The typical value of most of the v values are within the range of 210 m.
v for the corrected cone tip resistance is less than 0.5 m. The horizontal scale of fluctuation (h) is more than one
For the vane shear test, the value of v seems to vary be- order of magnitude larger than the vertical scale of fluctua-
1999 NRC Canada
 Phoon and Kulhawy 619

Table 5. Summary of total measurement error of some laboratory tests (source: Phoon et al. 1995, p. 4-22).

No. of data No. of tests per group Property value Property COV (%)
a
Property Soil type groups Range Mean Range Mean Range Mean
su(TC) (kN/m2) Clay, silt 11 13 7407 125 838 19
su(DS) (kN/m2) Clay, silt 2 1317 15 108130 119 1920 20
su(LV) (kN/m2) Clay 15 4123 29 537 13
(TC) () Clay, silt 4 913 10 227 19.1 756 24
(DS) () Clay, silt 5 913 11 2440 33.3 329 13
(DS) () Sand 2 26 26 3035 32.7 1314 14
tan (TC) Sand, silt 6 222 8
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tan (DS) Clay 2 622 14

wn (%) Fine grained 3 8288 85 1621 18 612 8
wL (%) Fine grained 26 4189 64 17113 36 311 7
wP (%) Fine grained 26 4189 62 1235 21 718 10
PI (%) Fine grained 10 4189 61 444 23 551 24
(kN/m3) Fine grained 3 8288 85 1617 17.0 12 1
a
LV, laboratory vane shear test.

tion, with a typical range of between 4060 m. This result is how they are followed. In general, tests that are highly oper-
not surprising because soil properties tend to be more vari- ator dependent and that have complicated test procedures
able in the vertical direction than in the horizontal direction. will have greater variability than those with simple proce-
The single reported h value of 170 m for the natural water dures and little operator dependency. Random testing error
content is about three to four times larger than the h values refers to the remaining scatter in the test results that is not
for the other soil parameters. This result is consistent with assignable to specific testing parameters and is not caused
the observation that the v values for index parameters also by inherent soil variability. A more complete discussion of
For personal use only.

are the largest. It would appear that index parameters gener- measurement error is given elsewhere (Orchant et al. 1988).
ally are less variable in both vertical and horizontal direc-
tions, in comparison with other soil parameters. It is
important to note that the scale of fluctuation is strongly in- Laboratory tests
fluenced by the sampling interval (DeGroot and Baecher In principle, measurement error can be determined di-
1993). Some of the scales of fluctuation reported in Table 4 rectly by analyzing the variation of the results obtained by a
possibly might be biased because of sampling limitation. representative group of soil testing companies performing
the same test on nominally identical soil samples. Com-
parative testing programs of this type are available (e.g.,
Measurement error Hammitt 1966; Johnston 1969; Sherwood 1970; Singh and
All soil properties have to be measured by some physical Lee 1970; Minty et al. 1979), but they are rather limited. A
means. This process of measurement introduces additional summary of the total measurement error in terms of the
variability into the soil data. The total variability of a mea- COV is given in Table 5 for a variety of common laboratory
sured property (m) can be described by the following simple tests. Full details are given elsewhere (Phoon et al. 1995).
model (Lumb 1971; Orchant et al. 1988): None of the studies reported the contribution from equip-
ment, proceduraloperator, and random testing effects sepa-
[5] m(z) = (z) + e(z) rately. Table 5 also summarizes the soil type, the number of
in which is the in situ property, and e is the measurement data groups and tests per group, and the mean and COV of
error. Equation [5] can be expanded by substituting eq. [1] the measurements.
for as follows:
Undrained shear strength
[6] m(z) = t(z) + w(z) + e(z)
The variation of the COV of measurement error of the un-
in which t is the deterministic trend, and w is the inherent drained shear strength (su) is plotted versus the mean su in
variability. The two uncertain components, w and e, gener- Fig. 11. The su tests can be classified broadly into (i) triaxial
ally are assumed to be uncorrelated because they are derived compression (TC), (ii) direct shear (DS), and (iii) laboratory
from unrelated sources (e.g., Lumb 1971; Baecher 1985; vane (LV). No apparent differences in the COV for the dif-
Filippas et al. 1988; Kulhawy et al. 1992). As mentioned ferent test types can be observed, and most of the COVs are
previously, inherent variability is caused primarily by the less than 20%. Note that the clayey silt specimens shown in
natural geologic processes that are involved in soil forma- Table 5 were compacted separately by each participant be-
tion. Measurement error, on the other hand, arises from fore testing. Therefore, the water content and dry density of
equipment, proceduraloperator, and random testing effects. the soil specimens were different and could contribute to the
Equipment effects result from inaccuracies in the measuring larger measurement errors (Singh and Lee 1970). Without
devices and variations in equipment geometries and systems the additional variability introduced by compaction, the
employed for routine testing. Proceduraloperator effects range of measurement error for these su tests probably would
originate from the limitations in existing test standards and be about 515%.
1999 NRC Canada
 620 Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 36, 1999

Fig. 11. COV of total measurement error of su versus mean su. Fig. 13. COV of total measurement error of wn, wL, and wP
versus mean wn, wL, and wP.
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Fig. 12. COV of total measurement error of versus mean .

Fig. 14. COV of total measurement error of PI versus mean PI.
For personal use only.

Friction angle those of the liquid and plastic limit tests.

The variation of the COV of measurement error of the ef-
fective stress friction angle () is plotted versus the mean Plasticity index
in Fig. 12. The friction angle tests can be classified broadly The variation of the COV of measurement error of the
into (i) triaxial compression (TC), and (ii) direct shear (DS). plasticity index (PI) is plotted versus the mean PI in Fig. 14.
No apparent differences in the COV for the different test As in Fig. 8, the association of larger COVs with smaller
types are evident, and most of the COVs are less than 20%. means, or vice versa, can be explained adequately using
As for su, part of the variability was not related to the eq. [3]. Note that the standard deviation for measurement er-
strength tests, but to the compaction procedure. In addition, ror, which is about 4%, is considerably smaller than the
it was observed that significant differences in the friction an- standard deviation for inherent variability shown in Fig. 8,
gles were caused by the linearization of the curved failure which averages about 8%.
envelope over different ranges of confining pressure (Singh
and Lee 1970). Based on these considerations, the measure- Total unit weight
ment error for the friction angle tests also is judged to be be- The COV of measurement error for the total unit weight
tween 5 and 15%, as for the su tests. also is summarized in Table 5. The measurement error of 1
2% is the smallest among all the tests given in the table.
Natural water content and liquid and plastic limits
The variation of the COV of measurement error of the Field tests
natural water content (wn), liquid limit (wL), and plastic limit For the field tests, a detailed analysis of the measurement
(wP) are plotted versus the mean wn, wL, and wP in Fig. 13. error already has been conducted (Kulhawy and Trautmann
No trends in the COV can be observed as the mean varies 1996) and is summarized in Table 6. In the study by Kulhawy
from 12 to 113%. The measurement error for the liquid limit and Trautmann (1996), regression analyses were performed
test appears to be somewhat smaller than that for the plastic on the results of laboratory calibration studies to determine
limit test. The probable ranges of measurement error for the the amount of variation assignable to each test parameter.
liquid and plastic limit tests are 510% and 1015%, respec- Where replicate data were available, second-moment statistics
tively. The limited data for natural water content seem to (mean and coefficient of variation) were evaluated to estimate
suggest that the measurement error is intermediate between random testing error. Inherent soil variability was assumed to
1999 NRC Canada
 Phoon and Kulhawy 621

Table 6. Summary of measurement error of common in situ tests (source: Orchant et al. 1988, p. 4-63; Kulhawy and Trautmann 1996,
p. 283).
Coefficient of variation, COV (%)
Test Equipment Procedure Random Totala Rangeb
c c c
Standard penetration test (SPT) 575 575 1215 14100 1545
Mechanical cone penetration test (MCPT) 5 1015d 1015d 1522d 1525
Electric cone penetration test (ECPT) 3 5 510d 712d 515
Vane shear test (VST) 5 8 10 14 1020
Dilatometer test (DMT) 5 5 8 11 515
Pressuremeter test, prebored (PMT) 5 12 10 16 1020e
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Self-boring pressuremeter test (SBPMT) 8 15 8 19 1525e

a
COV(Total) = [COV(Equipment)2 + COV(Procedure)2 + COV(Random)2]0.5.
b
Because of limited data and judgment involved in estimating COVs, ranges represent probable magnitudes of field test measurement error.
c
Best to worst case scenarios, respectively, for SPT.
d
Tip and side resistances, respectively, for CPT.
e
It is likely that results may differ for po, pf, and pL, but the data are insufficient to clarify this issue.

Table 7. Approximate guidelines for inherent soil variability (source: Phoon et al. 1995, p. 4-49).
Test type Property Soil type Mean COV(%)
2
Lab strength su(UC) Clay 10400 kN/m 2055
su(UU) Clay 10350 kN/m2 1030
su(CIUC) Clay 150700 kN/m2 2040
Clay and sand 2040 515
CPT qT Clay 0.52.5 MN/m2 <20
For personal use only.

qc Clay 0.52.0 MN/m2 2040

qc Sand 0.530.0 MN/m2 2060
VST su(VST) Clay 5400 kN/m2 1040
SPT N Clay and sand 1070 blows/ft 2550
DMT A Clay 100450 kN/m2 1035
A Sand 601300 kN/m2 2050
B Clay 500880 kN/m2 1035
B Sand 3502400 kN/m2 2050
ID Sand 18 2060
KD Sand 230 2060
ED Sand 1050 MN/m2 1565
PMT pL Clay 4002800 kN/m2 1035
pL Sand 16003500 kN/m2 2050
EPMT Sand 515 MN/m2 1565
Lab index wn Clay and silt 13100% 830
wL Clay and silt 3090% 630
wP Clay and silt 1525% 630
PI Clay and silt 1040% a
LI Clay and silt 10% a
, d Clay and silt 1320 kN/m3 <10
Dr Sand 3070% 1040; 5070b
a
COV = (312%)/mean.
b
The first range of values gives the total variability for the direct method of determination, and the second range of
values the total variability for the indirect determination using SPT values.

be small in these laboratory calibration studies, because the test are the smallest. Because of the limited data available
soil deposits generally were prepared under controlled laboratory and the need to use judgment to estimate these errors, the
conditions. Field data also were analyzed using second-moment last column of Table 6 represents the range of probable test
statistical techniques. However, only total variability could be measurement variability one can expect in typical field in
obtained because of the difficulty in separating the inherent situ tests. Full details are given elsewhere (Kulhawy and
variability of the soil deposit from the variability of the test Trautmann 1996).
measurements.
As shown in Table 6, the measurement error for the stan- Summary and conclusions
dard penetration test is the largest, and the measurement er-
rors for the electric cone penetration test and the dilatometer Realistic estimates of the variability of soil parameters are
1999 NRC Canada
 622 Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 36, 1999

needed for the development and application of reliability- Baligh, M.M., Vivatrat, V., and Ladd, C.C. 1979. Exploration and
based design. The variability of design soil parameters evaluation of engineering properties for foundation design of
should be evaluated as a function of inherent soil variability, offshore structures. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cam-
measurement error, and transformation uncertainty. The rel- bridge, Report MITSG 79-8268.
ative contribution of these components to the overall vari- DeGroot, D.J., and Baecher, G.B. 1993. Estimating autocovariance
ability in the design parameter depends on the site of in situ soil properties. Journal of Geotechnical Engineering,
conditions, degree of equipment and procedural control dur- ASCE, 119(1): 147166.
ing testing, and quality of the transformation model. Ejezie, S.U., and Harrop-Williams, K. 1984. Probabilistic charac-
An extensive literature review was conducted to estimate terization of Nigerian soils. In Probabilistic characterization of
soil properties: bridge between theory and practice. Edited by
the statistics of inherent soil variability and measurement er-
D.S. Bowles and H-Y. Ko. American Society of Civil Engineers,
ror. A summary of the COV of inherent variability for vari-
Atlanta, pp. 140156.
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by University of Tennessee on 08/08/13

ous test measurements is given in Table 7. The general soil

Filippas, O.B., Kulhawy, F.H., and Grigoriu, M.D. 1988. Reliability-
type and the approximate range of mean value for which the based foundation design for transmission line structures: uncer-
COV is applicable also are included in the table. With re- tainties in soil property measurement. Electric Power Research
spect to soil type, the COV of inherent variability for sand is Institute, Palo Alto, Calif., Report EL-5507(3).
higher than that for clay. With respect to measurement type, Haldar, A., and Miller, F.J. 1984. Statistical estimation of relative
the COVs of inherent variability for index parameters are the density. Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, ASCE, 110(4):
lowest, with the possible exception of the relative density. 525530.
The highest COVs of inherent variability seem to be associ- Haldar, A., and Tang, W.H. 1979. Uncertainty analysis of relative
ated with measurements in the horizontal direction and mea- density. Journal of the Geotechnical Engineering Division,
surements of soil modulus. ASCE, 105(GT7): 899904.
Another important descriptor of inherent variability is the Hammitt, G.M. 1966. Statistical analysis of data from comparative
scale of fluctuation. However, information on this parameter laboratory test program sponsored by ACIL. U.S. Army Engi-
is limited. The vertical scale of fluctuation for laboratory neer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, Miss., Miscella-
measurement of undrained shear strength is in the range of neous Paper 4-785.
12 m. For the cone tip resistance and the corrected cone tip Johnston, M.M. 1969. Laboratory comparison tests using com-
For personal use only.

resistance, the vertical scale of fluctuation is less than 1 m pacted fine-grained soils. In Proceedings of the 7th International
and 0.5 m, respectively. The vertical scales of fluctuation for Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering,
vane shear and standard penetration test measurements are in Mexico City, Vol. 1, pp. 197202.
the range of 26 m. The horizontal scale of fluctuation for Joustra, K. 1974. Comparative measurements of the influence of
these laboratory and field measurements is on the order of the cone shape on the results of soundings. In Proceedings of
4060 m. The vertical and horizontal scales of fluctuation the 1st European Symposium on Penetration Testing, Stock-
for index parameters were the largest. holm, Vol. 2.2, pp. 199204.
Statistical information on measurement error is rather lim- Kay, J.N., and Krizek, R.J. 1971. Estimation of mean for soil prop-
ited. Based on the statistics reported by comparative testing erties. In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Ap-
plications of Statistics and Probability to Soil and Structural
programs, the COVs of measurement error for most labora-
Engineering, Hong Kong, pp. 279286.
tory strength tests were estimated to be between 5 and 15%.
Kulhawy, F.H. 1992. On evaluation of static soil properties. In Sta-
The COVs of measurement error for the plastic and liquid
bility and performance of slopes and embankments II (GSP 31).
limit tests were in the range of 1015% and 510%, respec- Edited by R.B. Seed and R.W. Boulanger. American Society of
tively. The COV of measurement error for the natural water Civil Engineers, New York, pp. 95115.
content was intermediate between those of the limit tests. Kulhawy, F.H., and Mayne, P.W. 1990. Manual on estimating soil
For the plasticity index, the standard deviation of the measure- properties for foundation design. Electric Power Research Insti-
ment error was between 2 and 6%. The unit weight determi- tute, Palo Alto, Calif., Report EL-6800.
nation had the lowest COV of measurement error (-1%). Kulhawy, F.H., and Trautmann, C.H. 1996. Estimation of in situ
The COVs of measurement error for field tests were given test uncertainty. In Uncertainty in the geologic environment
elsewhere. (GSP 58). Edited by C.D. Shackelford, P.P. Nelson, and M.J.S.
Roth. American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, pp. 269
286.
Acknowledgments Kulhawy, F.H., Birgisson, B., and Grigoriu, M.D. 1992. Reliability-
This research was supported, in part, by the Electric based foundation design for transmission line structures: trans-
formation models for in situ tests. Electric Power Research
Power Research Institute (EPRI) under RP1493. The EPRI
Institute, Palo Alto, Calif., Report EL-5507(4).
project manager was A. Hirany.
Lumb, P. 1971. Precision and accuracy of soil tests. In Proceedings
of the 1st International Conference on Applications of Statistics
References and Probability in Soil and Structural Engineering, Hong Kong,
pp. 329345.
Arman, A., Poplin, J.K., and Ahmad, N. 1975. Study of the vane McCormack, D.E., and Wilding, L.P. 1979. Soil properties influ-
shear. In Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engi- encing strength of Canfield and Geeburg Soils. Soil Science So-
neers Conference on In-Situ Measurement of Soil Properties, ciety of America Journal, 43(1): 167173.
Raleigh, Vol. 1, pp. 93120. Minty, E.J., Smith, R.B., and Pratt, D.N. 1979. Interlaboratory test-
Baecher, G.B. 1985. Geotechnical error analysis. Special Summer ing variability assessed for a wide range of N.S.W. soil types. In
Course 1.60s, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Applications
1999 NRC Canada
 Phoon and Kulhawy 623

of Statistics and Probability in Soil and Structural Engineering, List of symbols

Sydney, Vol. 1, pp. 221235.
Morse, R.K. 1971. Importance of proper soil units for statistical A: dilatometer A reading
analysis. In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on B: dilatometer B reading
Applications of Statistics and Probability to Soil and Structural COV: coefficient of variation
Engineering, Hong Kong, pp. 347355. COVw: coefficient of variation of inherent variability
Orchant, C.J., Kulhawy, F.H., and Trautmann, C.H. 1988. Reliability- Dr: relative density
based foundation design for transmission line structures: critical
ED: dilatometer modulus
evaluation of in situ test methods. Electric Power Research Insti-
tute, Palo Alto, Calif., Report EL-5507(2). EPMT: pressuremeter modulus
Phoon, K.K., and Kulhawy, F.H. 1996. On quantifying inherent ID: dilatometer material index
soil variability. In Uncertainty in the geologic environment (GSP KD: dilatometer horizontal stress index
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58). Edited by C.D. Shackelford, P.P. Nelson, and M.J.S. Roth. LI: liquidity index
American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, pp. 326340. N: standard penetration test value
Phoon, K.K., and Kulhawy, F.H. 1999. Evaluation of geotechnical PI: plasticity index
property variability. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 36: 625 SD: standard deviation
639. SDw: standard deviation of inherent variability
Phoon, K-K., Kulhawy, F. H., and Grigoriu, M. D. 1995. Reliability- d: average distance between intersections of the fluctuating
based design of foundations for transmission line structures.
property and its trend function
Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, Report TR-105000.
e: measurement error
Rthti, L. 1988. Probabilistic solutions in geotechnics. Elsevier,
Amsterdam. n: number of data points
Reyna, F., and Chameau, J.L. 1991. Statistical evaluation of CPT li, lj, ll: layer depths
and DMT measurements at the Heber Road site. In Geotechnical pf: pressuremeter yield stress
engineering congress (GSP 27). Edited by F.G. McLean, D.A. pL: pressuremeter limit stress
Campbell, and D.W. Harris. American Society of Civil Engi- po: pressuremeter seating stress
neers, Boulder, pp. 1425. qc: cone tip resistance
For personal use only.

Sherwood, P.T. 1970. Reproducibility of results of soil classifica- qT: corrected qc

tion and compaction tests. Road Research Laboratory, su: undrained shear strength
Crowthorne (U.K.), Report LR 339.
t(C): trend function
Singh, A., and Lee, K.L. 1970. Variability in soil parameters. In
t: mean soil property trend
Proceedings of the 8th Annual Engineering Geology and Soils
Engineering Symposium, Idaho, pp. 159185. w(C): inherent soil variability
Spry, M.J., Kulhawy, F.H., and Grigoriu, M.D. 1988. Reliability- wL: liquid limit
based foundation design for transmission line structures: wP: plastic limit
geotechnical site characterization strategy. Electric Power Re- wn: water content
search Institute, Palo Alto, Calif., Report EL-5507(1). z: depth
Tang, W.H. 1984. Principles of probabilistic characterization of zi: ith depth coordinate
soil properties. In Probabilistic characterization of soil proper- : total soil unit weight
ties: bridge between theory and practice. Edited by D.S. Bowles : effective unit weight
and H-Y. Ko. American Society of Civil Engineers, Atlanta,
d: dry unit weight
pp. 7489.
Vanmarcke, E.H. 1977. Probabilistic modeling of soil profiles.
v: vertical scale of fluctuation
Journal of the Geotechnical Engineering Division, ASCE, h: horizontal scale of fluctuation
103(GT11): 12271246. : in situ soil property
Vanmarcke, E.H. 1978. Probabilistic characterization of soil pro- m: measured soil property
files. In Proceedings of the National Science Foundation Spe- : effective stress friction angle
cialty Workshop on Site Characterization and Exploration,
Evanston, Ill., pp. 199219.
Vanmarcke, E.H. 1983. Random fields: analysis and synthesis. Appendix
MIT Press, Cambridge.
Vanmarcke, E.H. 1989. Reliability in foundation engineering prac- This appendix includes basic data plots (Fig. A1, see fol-
tice. In Foundation engineering: current principles and practices lowing page) of COV of inherent variability versus the mean
(GSP 22). Edited by F.H. Kulhawy. American Society of Civil in situ test parameters that support the interpretations given
Engineers, New York, pp. 16581669. in Table 3.

1999 NRC Canada

 624 Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 36, 1999

Fig. A1. COV of inherent variability versus mean in situ test parameters: (a) CPT qc and qT; (b) su(VST); (c) SPT N; (d) DMT A and
B readings; (e) PMT pL; (f) DMT ID; (g) DMT KD; (h) DMT ED and PMT EPMT.
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by University of Tennessee on 08/08/13
For personal use only.

1999 NRC Canada

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