Drivability of Reinforced Polymeric Piling (RPP)
The drivability of conventional piling is mostly influenced by the soil parameters, because conventional piling materials are much stiffer than soils. However, the weight and modulus play an important role in RPP. Generally, an increase of the specific weight of the pile reduces the required number of blows. Also, members with a high composite modulus are easier to drive (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. Effect of the elastic modulus and specific weight on the drivability of RPP in WEAP analyses (capacity is fixed in WEAP analyses)
Wave equation analysis (WEAP) of polymeric piling involves a number of variations from conventional analyses. The properties of RPP differ from those of conventional piling, so conventional WEAP input parameters might not work as well for RPP. Iskander and Stachula used available driving records to calibrate WEAP input parameters for composite piling. A secant modulus of elasticity equal to two-thirds of the initial tangent modulus is recommended in order to account for the non-linearity of polymeric materials. Also, a damping ratio of 9 was found to best predict the available field drivability records. Finally, the potential importance of residual stress analysis in WEAP analyses is illustrated in the figure below (fig. 2).
Fig. 2. Dynamic geotechnical capacity versus blow counts (drivability) using WEAP. Estimated geotechnical capacity 6 10 % calculated per NAVFAC DM7 is shown. Note that failure to employ residual stress analysis results in large errors in computing the theoretical drivability of RPP at the estimated capacity.
Primary References
- Robinson, B. M. Iskander (2008). “Static and dynamic load tests on driven polymeric piles,” Geosustainability and Geohazard Mitigation, GSP No: 178, pp. 939-946, ASCE.
- Iskander, M., and A. Stachula (2002). “Wave equation analyses of FRP composite piling,” Journal of Composites for Construction, Vol. 6., No. 2, pp. 88–96, ASCE.
- Iskander, M., S. Hanna, and A. Stachula (2001). “Driveability of FRP composite piling,” Journal of Geotechnical & Geoenvironmental Engineering, Vol. 127, No. 2, pp. 169-176, ASCE.
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