In the name of Allah, The
most Gracious, The most
Merciful.
HIGH STRAIN DYNAMIC TESTING OF PILE USING
PILE DRIVING ANALYZER
CONTENT
INTRODUCTION
CONCEPT
PILE DRIVING ANALYZER
COMPONENTS & WORKING MECHANISM
TESTING PROCEDURE
GUIDELINE FOR OBTAINING QUALITY DATA
GRLWEAP & CAPWAP ANALYSIS
ADVANTAGES OF PDA
LIMITATIONS OF PDA
FUTURE DEVELOPEMNT
INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS DYNAMIC TESTING OF PILES?
Dynamic pile testing is fast and effective
method for assessing bearing capacity of
the foundation that requires instrumenting
deep foundations with accelerometers
and strain transducers and analyzing the
data collected by these transducers.
INTRODUCTION
WHY DYNAMIC PILE LOAD TESTING?
MORE ECONOMICAL
LESS TIME CONSUMING
MORE EFFICIENT
ALTERNATIVE FOR STATIC PILE LOAD TEST
LESS LOGISTIC INVOLVED
PROVIDE MORE INFORMATION REGARDING A PILE
WHEN COMPARED TO STATIC LOAD TEST
CONCEPT
HIGH STRAIN DYNAMIC PILE LOAD TESTING
High strain dynamic testing consists of
estimating soil resistance and its distribution
from force and velocity measurements
obtained near the top of a foundation
impacted by a hammer or drop weight. The
impact produces a compressive wave that
travels down the shaft of the foundation.
A pair of strain transducers obtains the
signals necessary to compute force, while
measurements from a pair of accelerometers
are integrated to yield velocity. These sensors
are connected to a PDA that records,
processes and displays data and results.
CONCEPT
HIGH STRAIN DYNAMIC PILE LOAD TESTING
Moreover Isolation of the static pile
resistance from the total pile response
is the key challenge in the interpretation
of dynamic pile testing methods.
CONCEPT
SPECIFICATIONS FOR TESTING:
PART ONE: GENERAL
It involves attaching strain gauges and accelerometers to
the pile near the pile head during driving
It shall be performed on required number of indicator piles
Dynamic Testing shall be performed on production piles as
chosen by the engineer to monitor hammer and driving
system performance
CONCEPT
SPECIFICATIONS FOR TESTING:
PART TWO Material
Impact Force Application
Force or Strain Transducer
Acceleration or Displacement
Transducer
Signal Transmission Cables
PDA (Model Pak, PAX or PAL)
to record, display and analysis
data
PILE DRIVING ANALYZER
PILE DRIVING ANALYZER
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
PDA was developed in the USA in the late 1960s and
early 1970's by Drs. G. G. Goble and F. Rausche, and
co-workers at Case Western University. It has since
evolved further and, as of the early 1980s, it is
accepted all over the world as a viable and valuable
tool in geotechnical engineering practice.
it was developed to analyze pile driving and evaluate pile
drive ability, including the range of stresses imparted to
the pile, hammer efficiency, etc. With the development of
inexpensive desktop computers, programs were written
around the wave equation and estimates of pile capacity,
such as CAPWAP, became a part of PDA analyses of pile
installation.
PILE DRIVING ANALYZER
1973
1958
1965
1982
1992
2007
TWO MAJOR PARTS:
TRANSDUCER
ACCELEROMETER
TRANSDUCER REQUIREMENT
Accurately calibrated
Rugged and Reliable
Allow for self checking
Adapt to any pile type
Cost efficient
Allowing for testing
TRANSDUCER COMPONENTS
Microprocessor
Signal conditioning circuitry
16 bit analog to digital conversion unit
Controller area network(CAN)
Signal collection & transportation system of transducers
Analog signal module
Collecting signal
Taking 7750
sample/signal
User defined
Microprocessor
Digitized signal by
circuitry module
Transducers are placed into dynamic
testing mode
Defragmenting
Controller area network(CAN)
Transport the signal to
the PDA
Stored in a disk
BASIC MECHANISM
Strain & acceleration
convert into force &
velocity
SAME PRINCIPLE FOR DRILLED SHAFT ALSO, HERE A DROP
WEIGHT IS USED INSTEAD OF DRIVING HAMMER
DROP WEIGHT
Dynamic Testing Consultant shall
propose driving system to install the
pile to the required capacity and
desired penetration depth within the
allowable driving stresses, with prior
information got by Contractor.
In case of drilled shaft:
Drop weight of 2% of the test shaft capacity
70%-80% impacting surface of the test area
Drop height 1 to 2 m
2-6 cushion of plywood
At least 2 hammer imapct
TESTING
PROCEDURE
Testing can be divided into two major components
Collection of strain & acceleration data
GRLWEAP & CAPWAP analysis
TESTING
PROCEDURE
Collection of strain & acceleration data:
Its mandatory that both the accelerometer and strain gage
are fixed parallel to the pile axis at a predetermined distance
from the pile top. When two sets of gages are used, they
shall be diametrically opposite
TESTING
PROCEDURE
Collection of strain & acceleration data:
After performing the initial calibrations checks on them. These are
fixed either by bolting or welding. Setup the apparatus required for
data recording, reducing and displaying data.
Calibrations of the Strain gauges
and Accelerometers & Fixing of
gauges.
TESTING
PROCEDURE
Sensor transmitter protection:
SITE LINK-REMOTE PDA
PILE A
Engineer
- controls several PDAs
simultaneously as if on-site
- monitors piles in real time
- reports within short time
PILE B
Contractor
- schedules easily
- keeps project going
GUIDELINE FOR OBTAINING QUALITY DATA
Protect Equipment:
Shade PDA units from direct sunlight.
Protect gauges if attached prior to raising pile in leads.
Protect cables if using wired gauges.
Wireless gauges are now available.
Proper Equipment:
Always use a minimum of 2 strain gauges and 2 accelerometers.
For larger diameter piles use 4 strain gauges and 4 accelerometers.
Specifications require that all gauges have up-to-date calibration.
Verify that all sensors are checked before attachment to piles.
Proper Equipment Attachment and Preparation:
Attach gauges a minimum of 1.5*Pile Width from top of pile
(Preferably minimum of 2*Pile Width from the top).
Verify that all sensors are checked before attachment to
piles.
Specifications require that all gauges have up-to-date
calibration.
GRLWEAP & CAPWAP ANALYSIS
GRLWEAP(Wave equation analysis program) includes:
Pile drive ability
Hammer performance & soil parameters
Pile toe damage detection
GRLWEAP
Thermodynamics model
predicts stroke for diesels
Enter soil profile
Predicts drive ability
Updated hammer/driving
system input
Updated soil parameters
DAMAGE DETECTION
GOOD PILE: No early reflections
Time of impact
Toe reflection
BAD PILE: Early reflections
Time of impact
Toe reflection
TOE DAMAGE DETECTION
EARLY RECORD
No damage done along pile length
TOE DAMAGE DETECTION
FIRST INDICATION
TOE DAMAGE DETECTION
END OF DRIVE
7 FT
CAPWAP ANALYSIS
The data obtained from dynamic pile testing
i.e. force and velocity measurements of pile
are fed to a software program called Case
Pile Wave Analysis Program( CAPWAP)
which is used to simulate static pile load
test
CAPWAP ANALYSIS
FEATURES OF CAPWAP:
high strain dynamic data is processed in the signal matching
software CAPWAP
CAPWAP separates static and damping soil characteristics and also
allows for an estimation of the side shear distribution and the piles end
CAPWAP is based on the wave equation model, which analyses the
pile as a series of elastic segments and the soil as a series of elastoplastic elements with damping characteristics.
Typically the pile top force and velocity measurements acquired
under high strain hammer impacts can be analyzed utilizing the signal
matching procedure yielding forces and velocities over time and
along the pile length.
CAPWAP ANALYSIS
CAPWAP METHOD
Retrieve data from pile driving analyzer (collects force and
velocity data)
CAPWAP ANALYSIS
vm
Fc
Fm
CAPWAP METHOD
[Link] pile model
[Link] soil resistance parameters
[Link] analysis using one of the
measured quantities ( force or velocity) as
input(Vm) and calculate the other(Fc).
[Link] measured(Fm) with computed
quantity(Fc)
Rshaft
Rtoe
[Link] match is not satisfactory, adjust soil
resistance parameters(Rshaft,Rtoe) and go
to step 3.
Repeat until matching is
satisfactory
CAPWAP ANALYSIS
CAPWAP ANALYSIS
The pile model
Zi-1
The Pile is divided in Np
uniform pile segments
of approx. 1 m length.
Zi
Each segment has
impedance Zi = EiAi/ci and
wave speed ci
Zi+1
The Wave travel time, t, is
the same in all segments
(.2 to .25 ms)
CAPWAP ANALYSIS
The soil model
t
Pile segment length ~ 1 m
Soil segment length ~2 m
( resolution of the data itself )
t
t
t
t
Spring (static resistance)
Dashpot (dynamic resist)
CAPWAP ANALYSIS
CAPWAP ANALYSIS
CAPWAP ANALYSIS
Result summary
Force & velocity
End bearing
Shaft resistance
CORRELATION WITH SLT(STATIC LOAD TEST)
SLT/CW>1 (under prediction)
SLT/CW<1 (OVERPREDICTION)
SLT/CW=1(Accurate result)
Load test result=400kip
CAPWAP result=380kip
ADVANTAGES OF PDA
Can generally test 4-6 piles per day during initial drive(comparing with
one static load test per day). Allow for more test at the or lower cost than
a static load test
More test allows for site variability
Pile integrity can be determined
Monitoring stresses during driving allows the contractor to change the
driving system to prevent piles from being damaged
Modern codes(AHSTHO,FHWA,LRFD) allows for a reduced factor of
safety when PDA test Is performed, which provides cost savings.
Reduced cost regarding pile length & size
LIMITATIONS OF PDA
Site specific input factors, such as damping, rapid pore
pressure cant be obtained by PDA testing.
An experienced Geotechnical engineer or PDA operator
is needed to go through the PDA analysis to avoid
misinterpretation of the results obtained.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF PDA?
The current state of analysis of PDA records is good, but more can be
done. As the foundation design practice slowly is improving beyond the
ungainly SPT-and-factor-of-safety approach and advancing toward
design for deformation
for serviceabilitywe need to have better means of estimating pile toe
deformation under load.
The analysis of PDA data should continue to be refined. Traditional load
testing should still the basis for this refinement and at this moment in
time - still the ultimate definition of pile design load.
More research should be done on PDA to reduce the effect of residual
load which affecting picture too much
CONCLUSION
However, it is necessary that the persons using the PDA results
(whether they are those taking the records or those using them
afterward) must understand that they have to incorporate information
on the soil layering and soil characteristics, the groundwater and pore
pressures, and other geotechnical matters and bring this information to
par in quality with the dynamic records.
This does not need research and development, but it does take education
and willingness to learn.
ANY QUERY??