Axial Pile Capacity: Correlation Between Impact Driven Piles and Vibro Driven Piles

Abstract

For an open pipe pile installed on the North Sea to serve as the foundation for an offshore gas production platform the capacity was determined in various ways. First the Cone Penetration Test data obtained at the location were used to simulate the vibro driving process. Then the monitoring data obtained during vibro driving were used adjust the soil model used for the initial simulation and to derive the pile capacity. Next the monitoring data for the Beginning of Restrike and the End of Impact Driving were used to assess the capacity yet again. The results as well as the soil models used for the simulations and the capacity estimates are presented to demonstrate that there is no need to drive a pile to its final penetration with an impact hammer to assess its bearing capacity, which when adopted in the industry will greatly reduce pile driving duration and thus cost.