This paper presents results from a numerical study performed to examine cone penetration response that spans fully undrained to fully drained conditions. Coupled-consolidation finite-element analyses, which accounted for large deformation and finite sliding effects, were carried out using Abaqus/Standard v6.6 at various rates of cone penetration. The model assumed a smooth soil/cone interface, with the soil idealised as a homogeneous elastic-perfectly plastic material obeying a non-dilatant Drucker–Prager yield criterion. The results for the limiting undrained and drained conditions are compared with published strain path and cone factor solutions. The significant advance of this work is the establishment of the theoretical backbone curves arising from the effects of partial consolidation during cone penetration. The factors affecting the backbone curves are examined, and a simplified procedure for deriving these curves is proposed using a hyperbolic fit. An example is then presented to illustrate how the data from measured field cone tests performed at different penetration rates may be used to estimate the strength, deformation and consolidation characteristics of a soil.