Three-dimensional effects in low-strain integrity testing of piles: analytical solution

The interpretation of low-strain integrity tests of piles is commonly based on methods developed around the one-dimensional wave propagation theory. In reality, waves resulting from the impact of a hammer on a pile head propagate in three dimensions, and the validity of the plane-front assumption is rather questionable for cases where the size of the hammer is small relative to that of the pile. This paper presents an analytical model of the dynamic response of a pile to an impact load on its head, considering propagation of waves in both vertical and radial directions. The proposed formulation applies to a pile of finite length embedded in multilayered elastic soil, and allows for considering both shape and material pile defects, by reducing locally the radius of the pile cross section or the Young’s modulus of its material. Arithmetic examples are used to depict the effect of high-frequency interferences on the interpretation of pile integrity tests, which can only be accounted for in the three-dimensional formulation of the problem, and lead to practical suggestions for the interpretation of such tests.