A New Concept of Match Quality of Settlements for Signal Matching Analysis on the Dynamic Pile Testing
SourceSince the 1980s, numerous authors have shown correlations between static load tests and dynamic load tests on piles. For a good correlation, good execution of the load test is a necessity. Dynamic data may be further analyzed by signal matching to evaluate the soil resistance distribution, toe resistance, quakes, and damping. Results are based on the best possible match between a computed pile top variable, such as the pile top force and its measured equivalent. However, it is easy to demonstrate almost the same pile capacity using different soil parameters. Although the pile capacity may be almost the same, the shape of the pile top load versus settlement and the shaft friction distribution might be different, even with a good signal match. By overlaying the static load test and signal-matching results, it is possible to determine the shaft quake on the initial slope of the pile top load versus settlement curve. When the static load test is not available, this paper proposes a static loading with the hammer weight while measuring the pile head settlement. This paper presents an improvement of the signal-matching results through the use of a new concept of match quality of settlements.