USE OF EXPLOSIVES TO ENHANCE POWER OF A NEW DESIGN OF PILE HAMMER

This paper describes the adaptation of conventional concepts of internal ballistics to the driving of piles. Special considerations are given to the differentiation between the usual solution for guns, in which a lightweight projectile is propelled at a very high velocity, and a pile driving hammer propelling a ram with a relatively low velocity. The basic premise of a high explosive hammer is introduced, and a scheme is suggested for obtaining a pressure-space relationship for the propellant chamber and the velocity of a moveable ram, comprising the base of the chamber, at the time it impacts a pile. The feasibility of using such a hammer to drive an offshore deep penetration pile in a deposit of clay is investigated by means of wave equation modeling.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This report was presented at the ASME Meeting held September 18-22, 1977.
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Mechanical Engineers

  Two Park Avenue
  New York, NY  United States  10016-5990
• Authors:
  • Graff, W J
  • Gomah, E M
  • O'Neill, M W
• Publication Date: 1977

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 8 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Clay; Construction equipment; Design; Driving; Explosive excavation; Explosives; Guns; Hammers; Mathematical models; Offshore structures; Oil well drilling; Pile driving; Pile hammers; Structural design; Support piles; Underwater construction; Underwater structures; Velocity; Wave equations
• Uncontrolled Terms: Ballistics; Models; Projectiles
• Old TRIS Terms: Pile design; Pile drivers; Wave equation formula
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Design; Highways; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00172516
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Engineering Index
• Report/Paper Numbers: Paper No. 77-Pet-80
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 31 1978 12:00AM