A total of eight precast concrete piles, six reinforced and two without reinforcement, were installed at the Experimental Campus of the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) 100 km northwest of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The piles were installed horizontally on the ground to minimize the effect of soil friction and had reductions or increases in the cross-section area at distinct locations along the shaft. One pile had an abrupt cross-section area increase that tapered down to the nominal area at one of the extremities. The piles were submitted to low-strain integrity testing by placing an accelerometer on and hitting each extremity with a small hand-held hammer. The data were processed using equipment from two different manufacturers. The collected data were compared with computer simulations using the known pile geometry as input. The program used for the simulations generates graphs of the top velocity and applied force based on a discreet Smith-like model. In general, the simulated signals were very close to the real ones. In one case, however, the collected data did not clearly show a relatively small clay spherical intrusion. Possible reasons for this discrepancy are discussed. low strain; pile integrity test; foundation piles; precast concrete piles
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