PILE TESTING – INTEGRITY / DYNAMIC / STATIC

Static Load Test:

To measures pile’s axial capacity under static load.

Apply a small load (10-20% of estimated test load) to on top of the pile by loading the well-designed loading platform and using the hydraulic jacks to transfer the loads and incrementally apply load in stages (e.g., 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% of estimated capacity). Maintain each load stage for the defined time to measure settlement and gradually reduce load to zero. Perform multiple load-unload cycles to evaluate pile behavior and record the loads applied, time intervals for each load stage. Measuring settlement at pile head and along shaft.

The detailed report shall include introduction, background, photographs, loading details, Test results and analysis of ultimate capacity, safe working load and settlement.

Dynamic Load Test:

To evaluate the dynamic response of a pile under axial or lateral loading, simulating the effects of dynamic forces and convert them to static capacity.

Preparing the surface of the Test pile which was selected by the client, obtaining the design load and test load of the pile and apply a series of impacts using the drop weight of about 5 to 10 tons. Record the acceleration, strain, and displacement responses during the impacts and analyze the data using techniques of the SIMBAT technologies.

The final report shall include the date of pile installation, date of test, Pile identification number and location, Length of pile below ground level, Total length of pile including projection above ground level at time of test, Length of pile from instrumentation position to toe, Hammer type, drop and other relevant details, Test load achieved (i.e. total mobilized deduced static load), Pile head movement at equivalent design verification load, Pile head movement at equivalent design verification load plus 50% of specified working load and Permanent residual movement of pile head after each blow.

Pile Integrity Test (PIT):

Evaluates pile’s structural integrity.

To evaluate the structural integrity of a pile, detecting defects or damage such as Cracks, Voids etc.,

The testing then involves attachment of an accelerometer onto the pile top, the pile is impacted with a hand held device (a hand held hammer). This generates low stress wave into the pile. The resultant strains are of extremely low magnitude, and the method is method hence known as Low Strain Method.

The accelerations generated by the impact are measured by the accelerometer attached on the pile top and are converted to velocity form for display onto the collector screen. Reflections from pile toe/pile discontinuities, cross-sectional changes, soil resistance changes, the wave speed through the pile etc., are graphically displayed. The test involves collection of several blows during the stage of testing. All such similar blows (usually 3 blows) are averaged before display. This averaging technique tends to cancel random signals in any particular blow while amplifying the effects of relevant repetitive response.

The data is now stored into the Pile Integrity Tester for further processing

Detailed report shall include Project title, site location, date of testing, Pile diameters, graphs, length of the pile.