This study addresses the predictability of pile behavior installed by vibration process, using ground penetration response and static performance of piles. Interest in this problem is motivated by the fact that the use of vibratory drivers can significantly increase the rate at which piles can be installed in certain soils relative to impact hammers, with less damage to piles, but that use in restricted by the unavailability of a utilitarian predictive model. The proposed project will extend an ongoing experimental study to focus on a systematic evaluation of the fundamental mechanism of the installation of piles by vibration and to code that information in a computer program, written for the microcomputer. The computer program will predict the behavior and static capacity of vibrator- installed piles in sands and allow practitioners to study the effects of the variables of the problem on driving. With increased confidence in the predictability of pile performance offered by this study, it is envisaged more piles at substantial savings will be driven by vibration where subsurface conditions are appropriate.
