Application of stress-wave theory to piles. Quality assurance on land and offshore piling / Применение волновой теории напряжений к сваям. Обеспечение качества при забивке свай на суше и в море

The application of dynamic testing based on the wave equation theory was first introduced in Brazil in 198 1. Differently from other countries, its first application was on offshore piling. At that time, a great number of jacket type platforms began to be installed in the country by the Brazilian Oil Company, in waters with depths varying from 50 to 250 meters. The use of this technique also on land job sites experimented a continuous growth since then. In 1989, low strain integrity testing was introduced. In 1994, a code on the dynamic load testing of piles was issued by the Brazilian Technical Standards Association - ABNT A couple of years later, in 1996, the same ABNT edited a revision of the Standard for Design and Execution of Foundations, which now accepts the use of dynamic load testing as one of the alternatives for bearing capacity evaluation. In the case of driven piles, it also allows for a reduction of the safety factor, from the usual value of 2 down to 1.6, provided that dynamic testing is performed on at least 3% of the piles on the job site, and that it is applied since the beginning of the piling. 
The present event in the Southern Hemisphere, and particularly in South America, certainly will contribute to increase the utilization of this technique, thus helping improve the quality of pile installation in this region. 
The support of the Brazilian Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering - ABMS in hosting this conference had the purpose of trying to make the geotechnical and foundation engineering communities and the wave equation theory users work more closely together. The conference structure was modified, eliminating the traditional presentation of the papers, thus allowing more time for discussions. After five conferences, the first one organized by Dr H. Bredenberg of the Swedish Geotechnical Institute in 1984, we hope that discussions based on the papers and lectures presented in this proceedings might have contributed to improve the understanding and bettern interpretation of dynamic tests, not only for the executioners but specially for the users of the the tests. <...>