Estimating Bearing Capacity of Piles Installed with Vibratory Drivers

摘要

Vibratory pile drivers are sometimes used to install sheet-pile walls, nonbearing piles, and some load-bearing structural piles. In comparison to the more commonly used impact hammers, vibratory drivers offer several advantages: (a) require less energy, (b) have higher rates of penetration of cohesionless soil, (c) produce less noise, and (d) result in less damage to the pile during driving. Presently, there are no reliable methods for estimating the bearing capacity of the pile during the driving operation. Thus, a new method for estimating the bearing capacity of structural piles installed with vibratory drivers is documented in this report The method is based on measurements of dynamic properties of the soil-pile system during driving. The method is verified by evaluating field data collected during the driving of 24 experimental piles at the National Geotechnical Experimental Site near College Station, Texas.