Analysis of Pile Driving Monitoring Equipment

Abstract

Rebound is a problem affecting pile driving in Florida. Significant rebound can require excessive blows for a pile to reach bearing capacity and may damage the pile. In order to study rebound, precise instrumentation is required. For that reason, the objective of this thesis is to evaluate the Inopile’s Pile Driving Monitor (PDM) as a tool for measuring the rebound of large diameter pre-stressed concrete piles driven with open ended diesel hammers. Six sites from Florida were selected for testing. Five of the sites had pile driving and two of them had standard penetration testing (which was used as an additional way to test the PDM). Along with the PDM, a Pile Driving Analyzer (PDA) and FIT’s Camera measurement system (CMS) were used on five of the sites. These methods were used to compare to the PDM. The PDM proved to be an inconsistent tool for continuous pile driving monitoring. The two metrics that were analyzed were the recorded set and calculated rebound. Set is the net displacement of a pile once it comes to rest after a blow. When compared to the CMS, the PDM showed a promising relationship for set. When compared to the PDA, the PDM showed no significant relationship for set. The relationship for rebound with the CMS as well as the PDA were weak and not significant respectively. The PDM in its current form is best suited for set checks.