The Ultimate Pile Bearing Capacity from Conventional and Spectral Analysis of Surface Wave (SASW) Measurements

A conventional and seismic method for determining the ultimate pile bearing capacity was proposed and compared. The Spectral Analysis of Surface Wave (SASW) method is one of the non-destructive seismic techniques that do not require drilling and sampling of soils, was used in the determination of shear wave velocity (V s ) and damping (D) profile of soil. The soil strength was found to be directly proportional to the V s and its value has been successfully applied to obtain shallow bearing capacity empirically. A method is proposed in this study to determine the pile bearing capacity using V s and D measurements for the design of pile and also as an alternative method to verify the bearing capacity from the other conventional methods of evaluation. The objectives of this study are to determine V s and D profile through frequency response data from SASW measurements and to compare pile bearing capacities obtained from the method carried out and conventional methods. All SASW test arrays were conducted near the borehole and location of conventional pile load tests. In obtaining skin and end bearing pile resistance, the Hardin and Drnevich equation has been used with reference strains obtained from the method proposed by Abbiss. Back analysis results of pile bearing capacities from SASW were found to be 18981 kN and 4947 kN compared to 18014 kN and 4633 kN of IPLT with differences of 5% and 6% for Damansara and Kuala Lumpur test sites, respectively. The results of this study indicate that the seismic method proposed in this study has the potential to be used in estimating the pile bearing capacity.