STATIC LOAD TEST – A COMPARISON OF ULTIMATE LOAD BETWEEN STATNAMIC AND MAINTAINED LOAD TEST MASTURA BINTI AZMI A project report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of degree of Master of Engineering (Civil-Geotechnic) Faculty of Civil Engineering Universiti Teknologi Malaysia MEI 2005 To everybody, thank you so much ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Through my preparation for this project, I have met several people that gave a lot of contribution towards this study. Many thanks to Dr. Khairul Anuar b Kassim who has been supervised me throughout this study and thank you for all the knowledge that you gave to me. I would also like to forward my thought to Mr. Tan Hui Hock of Geonamics Sdn. Bhd. who has been providing me with the necessary information for this study. I would also like to express my appreciation to Mr. Liu Chong Yew of SPYTL who has been a great mentor to me. Without the support from these people the thesis would not finish as this. My sincere appreciation should also go to the people’s incharge of the projects that I went to get my data and information. All the information are valuable for this thesis and many thanks to you. I would also like to thank all the people involve directly or indirectly in this thesis. Not to forget my family and friends. ABSTRACT This study is conducted to give a good comparison of the ultimate load between the statnamic load test and the maintained load test. The study was done using three methods to predict the ultimate load of statnamic load test. The three methods are the Unloading Point Method, Matsumoto method and Simultaneous Equation method. The statnamic and maintained load test was done on two types of bored pile that are bored pile cast on limestone rock and bored pile cast on granite rock. The result shown in the study gave a different outcome. From the settlement-load curves derived, the result for the comparison of statnamic and maintained load test for bored pile cast on limestone gave an almost similar result. Thus, it can be said that the result for both statnamic and maintained load test can be used to determine the ultimate capacity of the pile. Where else, the result for bored pile cast on granite rock gave a very large difference due to large difference of length for the two bored pile. Therefore, it can be conclude that the result for this study on comparison of statnamic load test and maintained load test for bored pile cast on granite can not be used. ABSTRAK Projek ini dijalankan untuk memcari perbandingan kekuatan maksima di antara ujian beban statnamic dan ujian beban tertahan. Projek ini dijalankan menggunakan 3 kaedah berbeza bagi menentukan beban maksima dari ujian beban statnamic. 3 kaedah itu adalah kaedah pembebanan titik, kaedah Matsumoto dan kaedah penyelesaian persamaan serentak. Ujian statnamic dan beban tertahan telah dilakukan ke atas dua jenis bored pile iaitu cerucuk yang ditanam di atas batuan kapur dan di atas batuan granit. Ujian telah memberikan keputusan yang berbeza. Bagi keputusan ujian statnamic dan beban tertahan ke atas cerucuk di atas batuan kapur memberikan hasil yang lebih kurang sama tetapi bagi cerucuk yang terletak di atas batuan granit tidak. Ini berkemungkinan di sebabkan oleh perbezaan kedalaman yang sangat ketara. Oleh itu, bolehlah dikatakan bahawa perbandingan bagi ujian statnamic dan ujian beban tertahan bagi cerucuk yang dikorek di atas batuan granit bagi projek adalah gagal dan tidak boleh dibandingkan. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER TITLE PAGE ORGANISATION OF THESIS Thesis Status Declaration Declaration Supervisor’s declaration Declaration of originality ii Dedication iii Acknowledgement iv Abstract v Abstrak vi Table of Content vii List of Tables xi List of Figures xii 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Objectives 2 1.2 Scopes 2 1.3 Problem Statement 3 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 5 2.1 Site Investigation 6 2.1.1 Planning 6 2.1.2 Depth of Exploration 7 2.1.3 Groundwater Condition 7 2.1.4 Sampling, in-situ testing and lab testing 8 2.2 Basic Piling Methods 10 2.2.1 Pile Types 10 2.2.1.1 Non-displacement piles 11 2.2.1.1.1 Bored cast-in-place 12 2.2.1.1.2 Small-diameter Percussion bored-cast- In-situ piles 13 2.2.1.1.3 Large-diameter Percussion bored pile 14 2.2.1.1.4 Rotary bored cast-in -place pile 15 2.2.1.2 Pile formation with rotary Boring equipment 17 2.2.1.3 Boring and Concreting 18 2.2.2 Concrete mixes for bored piles 19 2.2.3 Reinforcement for bored piles 21 2.2.4 Excavation using a bentonite suspension 21 2.3 Pile Testing 22 2.3.1 Introduction 22 2.4 Load Testing of Piles 24 2.4.1 General 24 2.4.2 Test equipment 25 2.4.3 Load application and measurement 26 2.4.3.1 Measurement of settlement 27 2.5 Pile Load Test Procedure 27 2.5.1 Maintained load test 28 2.6 Interpretation of the results 29 2.6.1 Load-settlement curves 29 2.6.2 Estimation of ultimate load 30 2.6.3 Settlement criteria 30 2.7 Statnamic test 31 2.7.1 Introduction 31 2.7.2 Development of statnamic 33 2.7.3 Basic concept of statnamic 33 2.7.4 Application of statnamic test 35 2.7.5 Statnamic theory 36 2.7.5.1 Load duration 36 2.8 Stress Wave Analysis 37 2.9 Pyrotechnics 38 2.10 Data Acquisition 40 2.11 Statnamic Assembly 41 2.12 The Result 43 2.13 Statnamic compared to dynamic and static loading 43 2.13.1 Dynamic testing 43 2.13.2 Static Testing 44 2.14 Soil Types 44 2.14.1 Elementary rock classification 44 3.14.2 Stratigraphy 48 3.14.2 Hardness 48 3.14.3 Defects in rock 49 2.14.4 Uniaxial compressive strength 50 2.14.5 Rock mass classification 51 3 METHODOLOGY 52 3.1 Statnamic test 52 3.2 Assembly of statnamic test equipment 53 3.3 Data Acquisition 63 4 DATA ANALYSIS 64 4.1 Interpretation of statnamic pile load test results 64 4.1.1 Unloading point method 67 4.1.2 Matsumoto method 68 4.1.3 Simultaneous equation method 69 4.2 Interpretation of maintained load test data 70 5 RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS 71 5.1 Results for bored pile on limestone rock 71 5.2 Results for bored pile on granite rock 78 5.3 Conclusions 85 REFERENCES 86 APPENDICES Appendix 1 89 Appendix 2 91 Appendix 3 93 Appendix 4 100 Appendix 5 114 Appendix 6 128 Appendix 7 135 Appendix 8 142 Appendix 9 157 Appendix 10 172 LIST OF TABLES TABLES NO TITLE PAGE 2.1 Typical in-situ tests and their application to pile design 9 2.2 Recommended concrete slumps for cast- in- place pile 20 2.3 Schematic classification of igneous rock 45 2.4 Schematic classification of sedimentary rocks 47 2.5 Rock quality 51 5.1 Results for the statnamic test and maintained load test for bored pile cast on limestone rock 72 5.2 Results for the statnamic test and maintained load test for bored pile cast on granite rock 78 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURES TITLE PAGE NO 2.1 The unloading-point model 38 2.2 Statnamic devices assembly 42 3.1 Installation of piston and oil application 54 3.2 Piston and oil installation 54 3.3 Ignition system 55 3.4 Fuel cage 55 3.5 Loading of statnamic fuel 56 3.6 Closing of the piston 56 3.7 Installation of base plate 57 3.8 Installation of cylinder 57 3.9 Installation of cylinder 58 3.10 Installation of weight 58 3.11 Installation of weight 59 3.12 Installation of weight 59 3.13 After installation of weight mass 60 3.14 Placing the gravel structure non-supporting panels 60 3.15 Closing of the structure panels and installation of gravel 61 3.16 Portable computer and data logging device 61 3.17 Cell laser source 62 3.18 After testing 62 4.1 Modelling of pie and soil during statnamic loading 5.1 Results for statnamic test using Unloading Point method for Limestone rock 73 5.2 Results for statnamic test using Matsumoto method for Limestone rock 74 5.3 Results for statnamic test using Simultaneous Equation method for Limestone rock 75 5.4 Results for maintained load test for Limestone rock 76 5.5 Results for statnamic test using 3 methods and maintained load test (3 rd cycle) for Limestone rock 77 5.6 Results for statnamic test using Unloading Point method for Granite rock 80 5.7 Results for statnamic test using Matsumoto method for Granite rock 81 5.8 Results for statnamic test using Simultaneous Equation method for Granite rock 82 5.9 Results for maintained load test for Granite rock 83 5.10 Results for statnamic test using 3 methods and maintained load test (2 nd cycle) for Granite rock 84 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURES TITLE PAGE NO 2.1 The unloading-point model 38 2.2 Statnamic devices assembly 42 3.1 Installation of piston and oil application 54 3.2 Piston and oil installation 54 3.3 Ignition system 55 3.4 Fuel cage 55 3.5 Loading of statnamic fuel 56 3.6 Closing of the piston 56 3.7 Installation of base plate 57 3.8 Installation of cylinder 57 3.9 Installation of cylinder 58 3.10 Installation of weight 58 3.11 Installation of weight 59 3.12 Installation of weight 59 3.13 After installation of weight mass 60 3.14 Placing the gravel structure non-supporting panels 60 3.15 Closing of the structure panels and installation of gravel 61 3.16 Portable computer and data logging device 61 3.17 Cell laser source 62 3.18 After testing 62 4.1 Modelling of pie and soil during statnamic loading 5.1 Results for statnamic test using Unloading Point method for Limestone rock 73 5.4 Results for statnamic test using Matsumoto method for Limestone rock 74 5.5 Results for statnamic test using Simultaneous Equation method for Limestone rock 75 5.4 Results for maintained load test for Limestone rock 76 5.5 Results for statnamic test using 3 methods and maintained load test (3 rd cycle) for Limestone rock 77 5.9 Results for statnamic test using Unloading Point method for Granite rock 80 5.10 Results for statnamic test using Matsumoto method for Granite rock 81 5.11 Results for statnamic test using Simultaneous Equation method for Granite rock 82 5.9 Results for maintained load test for Granite rock 83 5.10 Results for statnamic test using 3 methods and maintained load test (2 nd cycle) for Granite rock 84 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION In every construction, foundation is one of the vital component that need a lot of attention whether in design or in construction.