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Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A ] (]]]]) ]]]–]]]

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Development and calibration of radio-isotope

cone penetrometers
Abhay K. Shrivastava
Visiting Scientist, M2C UMR 6143 CNRS, Centre de Geomorphologie, Université de Caen, 24 rue des Tilleuls, 14000 Caen, France
Received 27 August 2004; accepted 16 September 2004

Abstract

Radio-Isotope cone penetrometers (RI-cones) are developed to measure the basic soil properties like water content
and soil density under in situ conditions in real time along with other parameters such as soil strength and
hydrogeologic conditions of subsurface soils. In this paper, a brief description of these cone penetrometers is followed
by their calibrations and the use of single calibration curve for different types of soils is discussed. Two case studies have
been presented. It has been shown that under marine conditions a correction is required for the measured water content
as the presence of chloride ions, a very strong neutron absorber, can underestimate the measured water content.
r 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

PACS: 07.88.+y; 89.20.Bb; 93.85.+q

Keywords: RI-cones; In situ testing; Water content; Density; Calibration curve; Neutron absorber

1. Introduction sensors in a cone penetrometer body for various

Cone Penetration Technology (CPT) has been in
use for more than six decades for site character-
ization for geotechnical purposes. The last decade
or so has seen a rapid development in sensor
technology, in electronics, miniaturization of
computers and augmentation of its processing
power has facilitated the incorporation of various
Tel.: +33 231 56 5709; fax: +33 231 56 57 57.
E-mail address: abhay.shrivastava@geos.unicaen.fr
(A.K. Shrivastava).
applications. Site characterization whether for
geotechnical or geoenvironmental purposes, can
be very expensive and can sometimes account for
more than 30 percent of the total budget. Before
any foundation plan is laid, it is important to
delineate the soil characteristics in detail. To
measure some of the basic soil properties, like
water content and the density of soil, samples are
required which may be of suspected quality.
This method is not only inefficient but also
expensive. To determine such properties under in
situ conditions, two different types of cone

0168-9002/$ - see front matter r 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.nima.2004.09.044
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
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penetrometers have been developed and are called
neutron moisture cone penetrometer (NM-cone)
and nuclear density cone penetrometer (ND-cone)
and collectively referred to as RI-cones. NM-cone
is essentially a four-component cone penetrometer
which can measure the water content of the soil
along with soil strength and delineate the hydro-
geologic conditions in real time. ND-cone is a
single component cone, originally also a four-
component one, as it uses the same hole as that of
the NM-cone and measures the density of soil. In
this paper, a brief description of these cone
penetrometers is followed by their calibration
and the use of a single calibration curve for
different types of soils. RI-cones have been used at
various sites and two field tests data are presented.
2. Description of RI-cones
2.1. Neutron moderation by hydrogen
The design is based on the principle that when
fast neutrons are emitted from the source,
neutrons go through the process of slowing down,
thermalization and diffusion. This process of
slowing down from the initial energy to the
epithermal (1 eV) or thermal energy (0.025 eV) is
governed mainly by the elastic collisions with the
hydrogen nuclei [1], which for all practical
purposes is present in the form of water in the soil.
Since neutrons do not react appreciably with
electrons, they are always detected through the effects
caused by their collision with nucleus. Over the years
various reactions have been proposed for the
detection of neutrons. The reaction used to detect
neutrons in the construction of the NM-cone is
3 the ND-cone.
He þ n ! T þ p þ 0:764 MeV; sa ¼ 5400 b
(1)
in which He is helium, n is the neutron, T is tritium, p
is the proton, sa is the reaction cross-section and b is
barns.
The fast neutron source is 252Cf, the sponta-
neous fission source of neutron and the half-life of
neutron source is 2.65 years. The detector used is
the 3He-filled proportional tube. Fig. 1 shows the
schematic diagram of the NM-cone.
48.6
35.6
e dd c b
a
1184
a: cable leading to the data collection system
b: pre-amplifier; c: 3He-filled proportional tube
d: 252Cf fast neutron source; e: porous ceramic filter
(all dimension are in mm)
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of NM-cone.
a: cable leading to data collection system
b: pre-amplifier; c: photomultiplier tube
d: lead (Pb) shield; e: 137Cs gamma source
(all dimension in mm)
Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of ND-cone.
2.2. Principle of g-ray interaction with matter
It is well known that a photon can interact with
atoms through scattering, losing some or none of
its energy (Compton or elastic scattering) or it can
disappear in a single interaction (photoelectric
effect or pair production) [2]. Every process
contributes to the attenuation and is a function
of atomic number (Z) of the element present in the
soil. Therefore, considering the chemical composi-
tion of the soil, almost all interactions lead to the
Compton process.
The source of g-photon employed in the ND-
cone is 137Cs with a half-life of 36.5 years NaI(Tl)
scintillator mounted on a photomultiplier tube is
used in the ND-cone to detect the incoming
photons. Fig. 2 shows the schematic diagram of
3. Calibration of RI-cones
Calibrations of both NM-, and ND-cones were
carried out in a laboratory calibration chamber.
The diameter of the calibration chamber was
650 mm and the height or the depth of the
calibration chamber was 1000 mm. Two different
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A.K. Shrivastava / Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A ] (]]]]) ]]]–]]] 3

x 102 2.0
Rw = 0.065 + 2.936 WH - 1.417WH2
standard count rate (CPM)

180 (r = 0997; N = 28)

1.5

count rate ratio (Rw)

160

1.0

140
0 50 100 150 200
elapsed time (days)
0.5
252
Fig. 3. Decay curve of Cf.

types of calibrations were carried out in the 0

calibration chamber. In the first case materials 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
such as decomposed granite, coarse gravel, fine (a) moisture density WH (t / m3)
gravel and mountain sand were used and in the
2.4
second case only water was used to carry out the Rγ = 9.3978 . e-1.0314ρt
calibration. The water content of the sample was 2.2
r = 0.994; N = 30
increased slowly by means of an inlet valve located
at the bottom of the calibration chamber. Sample
count rate ratio (Rγ)

2.0
was prepared by pouring known mass of sand into
the calibration chamber. The water inlet valve was 1.8
fitted with a meter to measure the total amount of
water supplied to the calibration chamber. To 1.6
obtain homogeneity in the sample and between
different layers of the sample, a hammer with a 1.4
mass of 10 kg was allowed to fall from a known or
a predetermined height. Before either the NM- or 1.2
1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0
ND-cone was installed into the calibration cham-
(b) density (t / m3)
ber, a background count was taken. In the
calibration curve, we have used the count rate Fig. 4. Calibration curve of (a) NM-cone and (b) Calibration
ratio instead of the simple count rate. The curve of ND-cone.
advantage of this method is that the count rate
of the isotope will change with time such as the one
shown for 252Cf (Fig. 3); however, the count rate
ratio will remain the same. Calibration curves thus basically composed of silica (Si) and oxygen (O)
obtained are shown in Fig. 4a and b for NM- and with other elements present in minor amounts. It is
ND-cones, respectively. interesting to note that the commonly encountered
elements in the soil have almost the same Z/A ratio
which is approximately about 0.5 (Fig. 5). Though
4. Applicability of single calibration curve for the Z/A ratio for hydrogen is about 0.99 the fact
various soil types remains that hydrogen is present as water in the
soil medium and the Z/A ratio for water is 0.5521.
One may question the validity of using a single Similarly, if we look at the different materials such
calibration curve for different types of soils. Soil is as concrete, sand, and glass, though they all have
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4 A.K. Shrivastava / Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A ] (]]]]) ]]]–]]]

1.0 show the profile of water content and the density

H
0.9 profile as measured by NM- and ND-cone,
Atomic number / atomic weight (Z / A)

0.8
respectively. Also plotted are the laboratory data.
It is interesting to note that though both the
0.7
density profiles are in very good agreement,
0.6 however, the water content profiles as measured
N O Na Si Ca Zn
0.5 by NM-cone and laboratory method show a big
0.4 C Mg Al P K difference. This is attributed to the presence of
Fe Cu
0.3
chloride ions in the soil and is discussed below.
Fig. 6B shows the RI-cone profile for the
0.2 Hachirogata site. Here, a thick deposit of clay
0.1 layer where the strength increases monotonically
0 with depth. Fig. 6B(c) and (d) show the results
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Atomic number (Z)
obtained using NM- and ND-cones. Also plotted
are the results from laboratory testing. For both
Fig. 5. Z/A ratio as a function of Z for commonly found water content and density, a very good agreement
elements in soil. is seen.

very distinctively different material properties, the 6. Effect of presence of chloride content in soil
weighted averages of Z/A of these materials can be
considered to be constant, which are 0.4878, We have seen in Fig. 6A(c) that the water
0.4959, and 0.4921, respectively. From the above content of the soil as measured using the NM-cone
discussion, it is clear that differences in soil types is considerably less than that measured in the
practically have no influence on the mass absorp- laboratory on obtained samples. This is due to the
tion coefficient so that a single calibration curve presence of chloride in the soil. Kinkai Bay area
can be applied to the density measurement of any has been reclaimed from the sea and has tradi-
kind of ordinary soil. tionally been used to make salt from sea water. It
is suspected that the higher concentration of
residual chloride ions in soils during diagenesis
5. Field testing due to evapotranspiration, leaching etc., can lead
to the underestimation of water content measured
To date, these penetrometers have been used at using NM-cone. Ølgaard [3] has shown that the
different sites and under various soil conditions. presence of boron (sa ¼ 755 b), a strong neutron
Two examples have been presented here. These absorber, can underestimate the measured water
examples have been chosen to demonstrate the content in soil. In order to quantify the effect of
efficiency of these RI-cones under varying soil chloride ions (sa ¼ 33:8 b), the experiment was
properties, though both the sites are characterized carried out in the calibration chamber by dissol-
by clay deposits. In the first case, Kinkai Bay site, ving a known amount of salt in the pure water. It
the testing was carried out in a marine environ- was observed that the 1.5% increase in chloride
ment and this area has traditionally been used for content can reduce count rate ratio by almost
making salt from the sea. The second example has 15%, as is shown in Fig. 7. Taking this into
been chosen from Hachirogata area where the clay account, we recalculated the water content ob-
is characterized by a very high water content. tained by NM-cone. The corrected water content
In the case of Kinkai Bay site, the soil strength profile for the Kinkai Bay site is shown in Fig. 8. It
(Fig. 6A(a)) increases monotonically with depth, can be seen that a very good agreement is found
which can be visualized through the pore water between those measured by NM-Cone and those
pressure profile (Fig. 6A(b)). Fig. 6A(c) and (d) obtained in the laboratory on samples.
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A.K. Shrivastava / Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A ] (]]]]) ]]]–]]] 5

qT (kgf / cm2) u (kgf / cm2) wn (%) ρt (t / m3)

0 20 40 60 80 100 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0
0

10
Laboratory
depth (m)

NM-Cone
15

20

25 ND-Cone
Laboratory
30

(A) (a) (b) (c) (d)

qT (kgf / cm2) u (kgf / cm2) wn (%) ρt (t / m3)

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 50 100 150 200 250 0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8
0

5
Laboratory
10
depth (m)

Laboratory
15
ND-Cone

20

25 NM-Cone

30
35
(B) (a) (b) (c) (d)
2
Fig. 6. (A) RI-CPTU at Kinkai Bay site; also plotted are laboratory results (1 kgf/cm =0.1 MPa). (B) RI-CPTU at Hachirogata site;
also plotted are laboratory results (1 kgf/cm2=0.1 MPa).

1.00
7. Conclusions
0.95
RI-cones have been developed to obtain data
count rate ratio

under in situ conditions. Two different examples

0.90
are given. It has been shown that these cone
penetrometers are versatile instruments and are
0.85 capable of measuring basic soil parameters in real
time, which can lead to a huge savings in any
0.80 project. It has been shown that when these cone
0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
penetrometers are deployed in a marine environ-
Cl- ions concentration (%)
ment, care must be taken to account for the
Fig. 7. Decrease in count rate with increasing chloride content. presence of chloride ions.
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6 A.K. Shrivastava / Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A ] (]]]]) ]]]–]]]

water content, (wn %) the course of this development. They are too
20 40 60 80 100 120 140 numerous to mention individually. The author
0
would like to extend his sincere thanks to his
Corrected
current host Prof. D. Levacher for his kindness,
5
NM-Cone Prof. J.L. Lagarde, former director of Center for
Geomorphology, University of Caen for the
Uncorrected invitation and to the present Director Prof. P.
NM-Cone Lesseur for continued hospitality.
10
depth (m)

References
15
[1] S. Glasstone, Sourcebook on Atomic Energy, Affiliated
East-West Press, New Delhi, 1967, 883p.
[2] G.F. Knoll, 1979. Radiation Detection and Measurements,
20
John Wiley, New York, NY, 1979, 816p.
[3] P.L. Ølgaard, On the theory of the neutronic method for
measuring the water content in soil. Risø Report 97, Danish
Laboratory Atomic Energy Commission, 1965, 44p.
25

30

Fig. 8. Corrected water content profile at Kinaki Bay site.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to express his sincere

gratitude to numerous people who have helped in