Pile Dynamics Revamps SPT System
Redesigned Solution Greatly Simplifies Test Setup
Pile Dynamics has a redesigned system for SPT hammer calibration. Both the hardware of the SPT Analyzer and the software used for analysis and reporting of standard penetration tests (SPT) energy measurements have been completely revamped.
In the newest release of the SPT Analyzer, Smart Sensor technology allows the program to read the rod instrumentation, so that sensor calibration and rod cross sectional area are input automatically to the SPT Analyzer. This simplifies the initial test setup considerably. The new model also responds to multi-touch gestures and has numerous color schemes available, making things like adjusting time scale or display to better view data in the field much simpler than previously. A preprogrammed set of output quantities tailored to SPT calibration is presented to the user, who can modify it to fit a particular project need. Data quality checks are available.
The SPT Software, which processes the force and velocity data obtained during the test, has been completely rewritten. It is now completely customizable and creates detailed reports quickly and easily. “It could reduce the time to produce a report by half, when compared with the previous version,” says Ryan Allin, senior engineer with Pile Dynamics.
SPT is a widely used geotechnical investigation tool that involves drilling an exploratory boring into the soil, driving a sampler into the borehole and recording, among other things, the number of hammer blows required for it to travel a certain penetration. The sampler is connected to the bottom of a drill rod and may be driven by a variety of SPT hammers, each with a different efficiency.
The SPT Analyzer system includes a main unit that processes strain and acceleration measurements obtained during the test itself. The measurements are acquired by attaching a rod section specially instrumented with two strain gage bridges and two Pile Dynamics accelerometers to the SPT drill string. Once the hammer hits the drill string, the SPT Analyzer processes the strain and acceleration measurements, which respectively yield the force and velocity necessary for the calculation of transferred energy.
The Pile Driving Analyzer (PDA) system PDA-8G, also manufactured by Pile Dynamics, may also be used for SPT Energy calibration by adding on the SPT Software to the PDA software suite.
Pile Dynamics Inc., headquartered in Cleveland, is a largest manufacturer of foundation dynamic testing equipment. A team of civil engineers, electronic engineers, software developers and technicians make the constant development of the Pyle Dynamics line of products possible and highly relevant to the deep foundation industry. To learn more, go to www.pile.com/pdi.
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