Patent ID: 7201060

Claim:
An apparatus for determining in situ pore fluid and soil properties, the apparatus comprising: a penetrating tip member configured to penetrate the soil; and an attachment module coupled to the penetrating tip member, the attachment module including at least one mandrel, each mandrel including at least one piezo sensor and a friction sleeve, wherein each piezo sensor is capable of obtaining an in situ measurement of pore pressure at a location corresponding proximal to the at least one mandrel on the attachment module, each friction sleeve of the respective mandrel having surface texture of a particular roughness that is capable of inducing an internal shearing of the soil, each piezo sensor of the respective mandrel being capable of measuring in situ pore fluid pressure from the induced shearing of the soil generated by the friction sleeve of the respective mandrel, wherein the attachment module further comprises at least one load cell, the load cell being coupled in sequence to the mandrel, wherein the at least one load cell obtains an in situ measurement of interface strength at a depth that is proximal to the location of the at least one load cell.