USE OF THE WAVE EQUATION TO PREDICT SOIL RESISTANCE ON A PILE DURING DRIVING

THE WAVE EQUATION ANALYSIS OF THE DYNAMIC BEHAVIOR OF PILING DURING DRIVING DEVELOPED BY SMITH IS USED TO PREDICT OR ESTIMATE A PILE'S LOAD BEARING CAPACITY. THE ACCURACY OF THIS METHOD IS PRIMARILY DEPENDENT UPON MAKING REASONABLE ASSUMPTIONS FOR THE FOLLOWING SOIL PARAMETERS: (1) DISTRIBUTION OF THE SOIL RESISTANCE ALONG THE PILE (PERCENT OF TOTAL SOIL RESISTANCE ACTING ON THE PILE), (2) SOIL QUAKE WHICH IS THE ELASTIC DEFORMATION OF THE SOIL MEDIUM SUPPORTING THE PILE, AND (3) SOIL DAMPING CONSTANTS. FOR THE BEST CORRELATION BETWEEN THE WAVE EQUATION PREDICTED SOIL RESISTANCE AND THE SOIL RESISTANCE ACTING ON THE PILE AT THE TIME OF DRIVING AS DETERMINED FROM LOAD TESTS, THE TYPICAL VALUE OF SOIL DAMPING FOR SANDS WAS FOUND TO BE 0.1. FOR THE BEST CORRELATION WITH PILES DRIVEN IN CLAYS A TYPICAL VALUE OF SOIL DAMPING WAS FOUND TO BE 0.3. USING THESE VALUES OF SOIL DAMPING WAS FOUND TO BE 0.3. USING THESE VALUES OF SOIL DAMPING AND QUAKE A REASONABLE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE WAVE EQUATION SOLUTION AND FULL-SCALE LOAD TEST WAS FOUND. THE ACCURACY OF THE WAVE EQUATION METHOD OF PREDICTING SOIL RESISTANCE ON A PILE AT THE TIME OF DRIVING APPEARS TO BE QUITE GOOD FOR PILES DRIVEN IN SANDS AND SANDY SOILS. HOWEVER, THE ACCURACY OF THIS METHOD OF PREDICTING SOIL RESISTANCE ON A PILE DURING DRIVING IN CLAYS IS NOT AS ACCURATE. REFERENCES: PILE DRIVING ANALYSIS BY THE WAVE EQUATION, E.A.L. SMITH, PROCEEDINGS ASCE, AUGUST, 1960.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Res Rept 33-10, 32 PP, 77 FIG, 10 TAB, 14 REF, 4 APP
• Corporate Authors:

  Texas Transportation Institute

  Texas A&M University System, 1600 E Lamar Boulevard
  Arlington, TX  United States  76011
• Authors:
  • Lowery, L L
  • Edwards, T C
  • Hirsch, T J
• Publication Date: 1968-8

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Clay; Damping (Physics); Deformation; Friction; Load tests; Pile driving; Sand; Soils; Wave equations
• Uncontrolled Terms: Soil deformation
• Old TRIS Terms: Pile bearing capacities; Resistance; Wave equation formula
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Geotechnology; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00208971
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 4 1994 12:00AM