Title:
Driving Stresses in Fiberglass Pretensioned Piles
Author(s):
Rajan Sen, Mohsen Issa, Patricia Wadsack, and Mohsen Shahawy
Publication:
Structural Journal
Volume:
90
Issue:
6
Appears on pages(s):
666-674
Keywords:
drop hammer tests; epoxy resins; fiberglass; piles; pretensioning; reinforcing steels; sands; stresses; Structural Research
DOI:
10.14359/4462
Date:
11/1/1993
Abstract:
Four 25-ft-long x 10-in.-square fiberglass pretensioned piles, two with steel spirals and two with fiberglass spirals, were driven through dense to very dense sands in Tierra Verde, FL, by a 3-kip drop hammer. Two identical steel pretensioned piles were also driven at the same site to assess the performance of the fiberglass pretensioned piles. The piles were instrumented by strain gages attached to the prestressing strands and by reusable strain gages/accelerometers attached to the concrete surface near the pile top. Driving stresses were monitored using a pile dynamic analyzer and by an independent data acquisition system. The test results showed that the performance of the fiberglass and steel pretensioned piles were very similar, although the confinement provided by the fiberglass spirals was inferior compared to steel.