Shemelyn,
you should look into:
Titi, H., Mohammad, L., and Tumay, M., "Miniature Cone Penetration Tests in Soft and Stiff Clays," Geotechnical Testing Journal, Vol. 23, No. 4, 2000, pp. 432-443, http://dx.doi.org/10.1520/GTJ11064J. ISSN 0149-6115.
Unfortunately, I do not have this paper with me right now.
This thesis may also be of interest: http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3981&context=etd They used 0.4 mm/sec
Regards
Thank you for your help. The second thesis unfortunately is for sands, and my research focuses on kaolin clay. Anyway, the first paper will really help me but I'm still looking to get a copy of it since I dont have an access. Thank you very much for your response.
You might want to contact Dr. Mehmet Tumay at LSU. They have already done conserable studies of rate effects in clays and developed the minin cone. I reviewed a paper of theris on this rate affects from them. I think I was a bit harsh though becuase speeds being proposed were not practical for field work. If you want I can find those papers. Mini cones are cool becuase they can see thinner layers!