Terms and Conditions of Use:

this document downloaded from

vulcanhammer.info
the website about
Vulcan Iron Works
Inc. and the pile
driving equipment it
manufactured
All of the information, data and computer software (information)
presented on this web site is for general information only. While every
effort will be made to insure its accuracy, this information should not
be used or relied on for any specifc application without independent,
competent professional examination and verifcation of its accuracy, suit-
ability and applicability by a licensed professional. Anyone making use
of this information does so at his or her own risk and assumes any and all
liability resulting from such use. The entire risk as to quality or usability of
the information contained within is with the reader. In no event will this web
page or webmaster be held liable, nor does this web page or its webmaster
provide insurance against liability, for any damages including lost profts, lost
savings or any other incidental or consequential damages arising from the use
or inability to use the information contained within.
This site is not an offcial site of Prentice-Hall, Pile Buck, or Vulcan Foundation
Equipment. All references to sources of software, equipment, parts, service or
repairs do not constitute an endorsement.
Visit our companion site
http://www.vulcanhammer.org
CEAN ENGINEERING B. F.-:-
Design, Driving, And Eva
' Of Long Offshore Piling
I
by T. J. Hirsch, Professor and Research Engineer,
Cizil E?lgi?leering Depart)rze?zt, Texas A&M Uiliversity, College Station, Tex.
Fig. 1. "Set-up" or
recovery of strength after
driving in cohesive soil.
200 4 0 0 6 0 0 800 1000 I 200
T I ME AFTER DRI VI NG ( HOURS )
RATE OF PENETRATI ON - BLOWS/ FOOT
Fig. 2. Comparison of equivalent and actual area methods.
BLOWS PER FOOT
Fig. 3. Effect of wall thickness.
T h e one dimensional wave equation method of pile
analysis has proven to be a powerful tool which czfn be
used for the design of the piles, selection of hammers
and other accessories for installation, and for evalua-
tion of the load capacity of the piling as they are driven
in hostile environments.
The wave equation can be used along with founda-
tion exploration and evaluation techniques to select
the pile size and thickness which could be expedi-
tiously driven to the desired penetration (or capacity)
without recourse to drilling or jetting. Various ham-
mers can be evaluated so that the desired sizes or
types can be selected. The wave equation has also been
used as an aid in the design and selection of pile make-
up, extension lengths, type of pile chasers, pile cush-
ions and other necessary pile driving accessories. Im-
proper choice of such accessories can undermine an
otherwise good pile driving operation.
(Continued)
7ooa-
Lo
a
; 6 0 0 0 -
HARDWOOD CAPBLOCK
O TON PILE CHASER
5 4 In dlam 2 m wall pp. pi18
PILE LENGTH 5 8 5 t I
150f t PENETRATI ON
0
~ " ' ~ ' ' ~ ' 1 ' ' ' " ~ ~ ~ " ' ~ ~ ' ' ' ~ ~ '
0 5 0 1 0 0 W 200 2 5 0 3 0 0
. .
BLOWS PER F O O T
Fig. 4. Comparison of Menck 7000, 2500-4SL, and 2500
pile driving ability -platform FA, BP Forties Field.
Technology of the ocean environment for engineeringloperating men
Finally, when t he pilings are being driven the wave
equation can be used along with t he pile driving record
C
of bloivs per foot t o evaluate the load capacity of each
' pile. This technique was used by PB Petroleum De-
velopment, Ltd., during installation of platforms in
the North Sea Forties Field. At Platform FA, these
evaluations confirmed t he required axial pile load
capacities in excess of t hat required and permitted t he
use of only nine piles per leg which resulted in consid-
erable construction savings. As a result of t he driving
characteristics of t he first 12 piles, relatively simple
pile driving criteria were developed which permitted
quick and speedy completion of t he remaining piles.
Pile-Soil Interaction
I t is important t o understand that the Ivave equation
method ofpile analysis does not replace a good founda-
tion exploration and evaluation program. A goocl soil
profile and strength properties of t he various forma-
tions are necessary input for a good wave equation
analysis. I t is also important t o understand t hat t he
soil resistance at t he time of initial pile driving is
usually less than t he soil resistance acting on t he pile
several hours or days after driving. This phenomenon
of soil "set-up" is illustrated by Fig. 1. When a pile is
driven in clays (cohesive soils) they generally remold
t he clay and reduce its friction resistance during con-
tinuous driving. An evaluation of soil "set-up" can be
C ) obtained by driving piles to partial penetration, then
MENCK 7000
75 X Eff~caency
13 TON PILE WASER
5 4 In dlom 2 8" woll pop. pnl.
PlLE LENGTH 5 8 5 f1
BLOWS PER FOOT
Fig. 6. Effect of capblock on pile
driving effectiveness, site FA.
6 0 0 0 .
5 0 0 0 -
L
P
" 4 0 0 0 -
z
x
b a o o o .
DBI - DB 2
-0
R
-
b
X
MENCK 7 0 0 0
75% Ef f l cl r ncy
O In. Nar dwood Copbl osk
L
.
5 I /
54i n. dlom. 2,". r o l l Pip. Pala
I
E~1anai on 2 0 5 f l . long
uol n PIIO 380 f t . lone
2 4 0 ft. Penatroti on
0 . O. l tn Jp* O- I 5 J, =0. 20
I
Soi l R.8irt. 2 0 % Poi nt 8 0 % Fr ~ct i on
Jp ' 0 01
215'
0, ' 0 I
Jp ' 0 I5
Fig. 5. Typical pile configuration, site FA.
W z
W
BLOWS PER FOOT
Fig. 7. Effect of pile chaser weight
on pile driveability, site FA.
-
-: '?
-g
60 OCEAN ENGINEERING NOVEMBER 15,1975
MAI N P l L E
?
-
MAI N PI L E
Fig. 8. Hollow 13-ton and solid 32-ton chaser used on 54-in.
diam piles at platforms FA and FC.
delaying redriving for several hours or days. The in-
crease in blows per foot required to redrive a pile can
be used lvith a wave equation bearing graph t o
evaluate t he increase in soil friction due to "set-up".
Selection of pile size for offshore structures is usu-
ally based 011 inservice design loads whicli produce
axial, shear and bending forces in t he piling. Designs of
( ) this type usually result in piles with various wall thick-
ness, with the thickest section usually immediately
above and below t he mudline. Designs of this type ar e
shown in Fig. 2. They may not be the most economical
or effective when one considers the driveability of the
pile and construction time required.
Fig. 3 shows t hat by increasing the pile wall thick-
ness below the mudline the pile driveability is in-
creased significantly. The wave equation and field ex-
perience has shown t hat a stiffer pile can overcome
greater soil resistance during driving. Before the pile
wall thickness is fixed, the designer should carefully
analyze the pile for driveability and contingencies
which may occur during installation. To drive long,
high capacity piles (4000, 6000, or 8000 'tip piles) gen-
erally requires large hammers and stiff piles.
Fig. 4 shows a comparison of t he pile driveability of
three different size pile hammers. At 150 blob\-s per
foot the hlenck 2500 could overcome a soil resistance of
about 4700 kips while t he hIenck 7000 could overcome
6400 kips. Since the desired capacity of the piles at the
BP Forties Field was approsimately 5500 kips, the
Menck 7000 was select for final driving a t the desired
final penetration. This hammer had the capability of
verifying the desired 5500 kip capacity of the piles
during a redrive after soil "set-up" had occurred a t
( final penetration.
Basically, the Menck 2500 and Menck 2500-4SL
were used for t he initial driving down to approxi-
mately 180 ft of penetration. The final driving exten-
81019, FOOT
Fig. 9. Effect of cushion stiffness.
PILE CbP WEI GHT
10 KI PS
,
VULCAN 0 6 0
Oo
I I I
2 0 40 60 90 1 0 0 I 2 0
BLOW 1 INCH
Fig. 10. Effect of pile cap weight.
4 5 % El f
5 HOUR DELAY '
- MENCK 2500- 4SL
45% Ef t
65% El f .
25
I J
0 20 4 0 60 80 IW 120 140 160
BLOWS PER FOOT
Fig. 11. Typical driving record pile - B2-2, BP platform FA.
OCEAN ENGINEERING NOVEMBER 15,1975
Long Offshore Piling
TOTAL SOI L RESI STANCE AT T I ME OF DRIVING-KIPS
Fig. 12. Wave equation prediction of soil resistance
vs. penetration, pile B2-2 - BP platform FA.
' ' sion was then placed on t he piles and t he Menck 7000
used to drive t he last extension to the final c:zsired
penetration which ranged from 210 ft to 250 ft at t he
various platforms. When intermediate sand layers
were encountered a t Platforms FB and FC t he Menck
7000 basically had t he capacity to penetrate them a t
150 blows per foot. In a few cases at Platform FC t he
Menck 7000 at 150 blows per foot was not able t o
penetrate t he sand layer a t approximately 200 f t
penetration. This was anticipated, however, and the
Menck 7000 verified t hat these piles were capable of
carrying the desired axial load of 5500 kips. In antici-
pation of this refusal occurring, an added length of
thick wall pile was used in t he pile make-up so t hat it
would be located at t he mudline where it was needed
for the large service load bending stresses at this loca-
tion (see Fig. 5).
By using the wave equation to evaluate pile driving
accessories such as t he capblock and t he connector
between the main pile and driving extension, good pile
driving effectiveness was maintained. Fig. 6 illus-
trates how t he asbestos capblock could reduce t he
driving effectiveness of t he Menck 7000 hammer by 9%
or 10% if used in lieu of the usual hardwood capblock.
Fig. 7 illustrates effect of the weight of t he pile chaser
(
or connector between t he main pile and driving exten-
sion on the pile driving effectiveness.
If the %in. diam, 32-ton solid steel chaser is used,
the driving effectiveness of t he hlenck 7000 would be
reduced by 7% to 8% when compared to t he 13-ton
chaser. The 13-ton chaser weight was achieved by
machining out the center of t he solid chaser (see Fig.
8). If both the 32-ton chaser and asbestos capblock had
been used, it is apparent t hat the driving effectiveness
of the Menck 7000 would be reduced by approximately
17% and it would become a marginal hammer for driv-
ing 5500 kip piles.
The effect of other pile accessories on the driving
effectiveness of a given hammer can be investigated by
use of the wave equation. Figs. 9 and 10 present ex-
amples of t he effect of cushion stiffness and pile cap
weight, respectively.
Field Evaluation
Use of t he wave equation to determine soil resis-
tance acting on a pile during driving is relatively new.
The method was used quite successfully during con-
struction of t he platforms in t he North Sea Forties
Field.
A typical pile driving record of blows per foot vs. pile
penetration (see Fig. 11) can be translated into a plot of
soil resistance vs. pile penetration (see -Fig. 12) by
using a graph similar t o Fig. 4 which relates blows per
foot to soil resistance acting on t he pile.
The information shown in Fig. 12 for several piles
with several different time delays between initial driv-
ing and redriving can be used to determine the ulti-
mate static load capacity of t he piling. One must re-
OCEAN ENGINEERING * NOVEMBER 15,1975
i "
Long Offshore Piling
SOl L RESISTANCE - KIPS
8000 9000
I
MAX COMPRESSIVE CAPACITY
PREDICTED BY CPT METHOO o SOIL RESISTANCE DURING CONTINUOUS ,
OPTIMISTIC SOIL PROFILE-SOIL PLUG DRI VI NG
t- 50
- PILE PENETRATED UNDER OWN WEIGHT -
W
W
0 SOIL RESISTANCE WRI NG RE-DRIVING
LL
MI N COMPRESSIVE CAPACITY AFTER SOIL SET-UP - TIME
A METHOD - PESSIMISTIC SOIL
PROFILE - NO SOlL PLUG
DELAY INDICATED BESIDE DATA POINT
-
-
e-012 hr. -
- 1 4 hr
- - --
- - -
- - A*_ -. 4 Q ~ 4 ! - --
250
Fig. 13. Summary of wave equation pretlictiol~s of soil
resistance vs penetration of first 12 piles - BP platform FA.
C' 1 member that t he r a v e equation analysis can be used to
predict the soil resistance acting on t he pile during
driving a t a given blow count per foot. One can care-
fully evaluate the soil "set-up" properties s h o ~ m by
data similar to Fig. 12 and determine the soil "set-up
factor" which can then be applied t o the soil resistance
acting on t he pile during continuous driving a t final
penetration. A more direct method of obtaining t he
ultimate static load capacity is to redrive a pile a t final
penetration aft er several days delay in order t o
evaluate the soil "set-up" and final ultimate capacity.
Both methods were used on t he North Sea Forties
Field. Both methods require t hat piles be redriven
after a satisfactory time delay t o obtain soil "set-up."
Fjg. 13 shows a summary of t he wave equation pre-
dictions of soil resistance vs. penetration for the first
twelve piles on Platform FA. Superimposed on this
figure are the maximum and minimum pile compres-
sive capacities predicted by t he soil consultants using
classical foundation exploration and evaluation tech-
niques. From Fig. 13 it can be seen t hat the piles
penetrated kom 50 to 70 ft under their own weight.
These piles remained in the soil a day or more before
pile driving commenced. The solid data points indicate
the magnitude of soil resistance acting on the piles dur-
ing continuous driving. The open data points indicate
the soil resistance during a re-drive after several hours
of time delay. I t can be seen t hat in the clay the
soil resistance during continuous driving is about one
half the static soil resistance which would develop
when t he clay reconsolidates and set s up.
When t he piles penetrate t he silty sand layer the soil
resistance increases rapidly. When the piles are driven
continuously into t he sand layer and stopped, i t is
apparent from Fig. 13 t hat the soil resistance encoun-
tered during continuous driving can be increased by
the anticipated amount of soil "set-up" in t he clay t o
arrive at the final pile load bearing capacity. a
Acknowledgement. This article was adapted from paper OTC 2247
presented by the author at the Seventh Annual Offshore Technology
Conference, Houston, Tex., May 5-8, 1975. Co-authors of the OTC
paper were Albert M. Koehler of Brown & Root Inc. and V.J.R.
Sutton, BP Petroleum Development Ltd.
About the Author
T. J. Hirsch is a professor of
civil engi neeri ng alzd re-
search engineer with Texas
A&M Uni ver s i t y. He has
been act zvely ellgaged i n pile
foundation research and de-
velopment for over 15 years.
He holds BS, M& and PhD
degrees from Texas A&M a ~ t d
i s considered one of the pio-
neers in the developnze?zt of
the wave equation method of
analysis for the design and
evaluation of piling.
66
OCEAN ENGINEERING NOVEMBER 15,1975