Effects of weight and drop height of hammer on dynamic cone penetration test in loose layer

•Compression stress and transferred energy varies with hammer weight and height.•IDCPIs vary according to hammer weight and height with constant potential energy.•Hammer weight significantly affects the drivability than height for loose layer.•Effects of hammer weight and height should be determined by considering drivability. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of hammer weight and drop height on compression stress, transferred energy, and strength index in loose layer. An instrumented dynamic cone penetrometer (IDCP) with various hammer weights and drop heights as adopted to obtain the dynamic responses and penetration index from the IDCP (IDCPI). The dynamic responses into the rod head and cone tip were analyzed with respect to the hammer weight and drop height. Test results indicate that the compression stress and transferred energy at the rod head and cone tip vary with respect to the hammer weight and drop height. In addition, the IDCPI varied according to the hammer weight and drop height even though the potential energy is identical. For characterization of loose layer using dynamic penetrometer, both effects of hammer weight and drop height should be determined by considering rod drivability.