Analysis of Ground Vibrations Induced by Pile Driving and a Comparison of Vibration Prediction Methods-Article

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The study measured ground vibrations during installation of one prestressed concrete pile and two steel H-piles in Mobile, Alabama. Geophones recorded peak particle velocity (PPV) at several distances. The authors fitted prediction equations using three approaches: horizontal distance, energy-adjusted scaled distance, and seismic distance (the distance from the pile toe to the monitoring point).<br /><br />The concrete pile produced higher PPVs than the H-piles. Its soil attenuation coefficients were also larger: 1.6 for horizontal and scaled-distance analyses, and 2.11 for seismic distance, compared with 0.93 and 1.01, respectively, for the H-piles. The authors suggest that differences in pile geometry and how driving energy transfers into the soil help explain the results. Most vibration frequencies were between 5 and 20 Hz; the concrete pile generally generated lower-frequency vibrations than the H-piles.<br /><br />A design example showed that the predicted minimum pile-to-building distance depended on the method: 20.7 m using horizontal distance, 22.3 m using scaled distance, and 20.9 m using seismic distance. The more detailed methods require additional information—hammer energy for scaled distance and pile-tip depth for seismic distance—but can help assess alternatives such as changing hammer energy or jetting depth.<br /><br />The authors conclude that horizontal-distance analysis is simple and often adequate, while scaled-distance and seismic-distance analyses can provide added value for project planning. Because vibration behavior is strongly influenced by local soil conditions and installation practices, the equations derived from this site should not be assumed to apply universally; project-specific field measurements may be needed.

Keywords

pile driving vibration

peak particle velocity

prestressed concrete pile

steel H-pile

soil attenuation

scaled distance

seismic distance

geophones

vibration frequency

Mobile Alabama