High strain dynamic testing

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High strain dynamic testing is a method of testing deep foundations to obtain information about
their capacity and integrity, and in some cases, to monitor their installation. It is codified by
D4945-08 - Standard Test Method for High-Strain Dynamic Testing of Piles.
High strain dynamic testing is called dynamic pile monitoring when it is applied during
pile driving and dynamic load testing when it is applied following pile installation, regardless of
the installation method.
The origins of these testing methods date to research conducted in the 1960s and 1970s at what
is now known as Case Western Reserve University, with funding of the Ohio Department of
Transportation. The 1972 paper Soil Resistance Predictions from Pile Dynamics, by Rausche, F.,
Moses, F., Goble, G. G., published by the Journal of the Soil Mechanics and Foundations
Division, American Society of Civil Engineers transformed the academic research into a process
embraced by the engineering community.
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 an
instrument (such as a pile driving analyzer), that records, processes and displays data and
results.
As long as the wave travels in one direction, force and velocity are proportional and related by
the expression F = Zv, where:

Z = EA/c is the pile impedance

E is the pile material modulus of elasticity
A is the cross sectional area of the pile
c is the material wave speed at which the wave front travels
The wave assumes an opposite direction (a reflection) when it encounters soil resistance forces
along the shaft or at the toe. These reflections travel upward along the shaft and arrive at the pile
top at times that are related to their location along the shaft. The sensors near the pile top take
measurements that translate what is happening to the traveling waves, and make it possible to
estimate soil resistance and its distribution.
The data obtained in this fashion permits the computation of total soil resistance, which includes
both static and viscous components. The dynamic component is computed as the product of the
pile velocity times the damping factor (a soil parameter related to soil grain size). The static
component is the total soil resistance minus the dynamic component).
Dynamic load testing takes a further step in analyzing the data and computing static capacity and
resistance distribution.
Dynamic pile monitoring takes advantage of the fact that, for driven piles, it is possible to
compute the energy delivered to the pile, compression stresses at the pile top and toe and
tension stresses along the shaft. Pile integrity can also be evaluated.
High Strain Dynamic Pile Testing
Geo Dynamics is a market leader in this testing and owns sets of Pile Driving Analyzers
for assessment of bored / driven concrete and steel piles. We have proven experience of
more than a decade in almost all types of pile foundations listed below
Cast-in-place bored piles for diameters from 400mm to 1600mm
Monitoring of driven pre-cast / pre-stressed concrete piles
Testing of Steel H-pile and close / open ended steel pipe piles
Driven and Bored Micro Piles
Offshore piles for jetties, ports, platforms

We have done co-relation / reliability studies for almost all these pile types installed in
different soil types and using a variety of drop / diesel / hydraulic hammers. Our current
data base includes such studies for more than 100 piles and can be obtained on request.

HSDPT APPLICATIONS
Dynamic pile testing has been in use in more than 40 countries and is a part of various
code specifications worldwide including ASTM 4945. The test can be used to evaluate
various pile parameters, few of those important for cast-in-place bored piles are mentioned
below.

Static capacity of the pile at the time of testing.

Static load test curve
Total skin friction and end bearing of the pile
Estimate of skin friction variation along the length of the pile
Compressive and tensile stresses developed in the pile during testing
Net and total displacement of the pile.
Pile integrity and changes in cross-section if any.

In addition to above PDA is an extremely efficient tool for driven piles to decide
termination criterion, hammer, drop height, efficiency, stresses and other parameters.

APPLICABLE FOR
Applicable for practically all types of pile foundations includes cast-in-place driven and
cast-in-place bored concrete piles, driven pre-cast, pre-stressed spun piles, steel H-piles,
pipe piles, micro bored and driven micro piles.

Cannot be used for testing of pile groups and needs a heavy impact to generate forces and
velocities and a Pile Driving Analyzer with sensors to measure them.

PRINCIPLE OF TESTING

The basic purpose of high strain dynamic pile testing is to evaluate pile static capacity and
its structural integrity using measurement of both force and velocity. Unless, any method
uses instrumentation to measure force (or strain) it cannot be called dynamic testing as
such, since the basic requirement of the test is to measure dynamic impact and convert it to
static capacity.
The method involves attaching a minimum of two pairs of strain transducers and
accelerometers on diagonally opposite sides of the pile. These are fixed minimum 1.5
times the pile diameter below pile top & impact generated using a hammer weight equal to
1% to 2% of static test load. Note that it is required that High Strain Dynamic Testing
(HSDPT) confirms to ASTM D4945 or other such relevant codes.

Strains induced under the impact of a heavy falling hammer from a pre-determined height
are measured with the help of strain transducers attached to the pile, whereas
accelerometers record the accelerations generated in the pile. The Pile Driving Analyzer
converts strain to force, and acceleration records are converted to velocities. The resistance
developed by the pile is then a function of force and velocity and includes few assumed
factors such as the quake and damping parameters as inputs based on the soil type. The
maximum pile top compression is obtained by integrating the pile top velocity. A more
accurate value of these parameters is then obtained from CAPWAP analysis conducted on
field data.

BENEFITS OF DYNAMIC PILE TESTING

BORED PILES

Significantly faster and economical than static tests; with proper setup
arrangements can test atleast 2 bored piles and even more driven piles per day.
Very effective for large diameter bored piles with huge capacity & applicable for
both offshore & onshore piling
Applicable to almost all kinds of piles.
Reduces or eliminates static load testing especially in case of jetties, flyovers,
bridges, multistory buildings where space is a constraint.
Provides information on friction, end-bearing, pile integrity, hammer performance
and plot simulated load test curve for comparison with static testing.
Reduces controversies and eliminates risk enabling a safe foundation.

DRIVEN PILES

Can be used to decide termination criterion, hammer performance, pile capacity

many times instantaneously at site.
If problem then it can evaluate whether problem is pile / soil / hammer.
Measures driving stresses for effective driving control.
Very effective for offshore piles, where conducting static load testing is very
difficult.