Evaluation of capacity of power hammer machine foundation from high strain dynamic load test: Field test and axisymmetric numerical modeling

The power hammer machines induce harmful vibrations in different parts of the foundation which may result in excessive dynamic settlement. While designing the hammer machine foundation, variety of static and repetitive impact load tests are generally conducted to ensure both the stability and serviceability of the foundation system. The static load test (SLT) is performed in the case of such foundations to obtain the ultimate capacity. However, the SLT is unable to predict the reliable response of the machine foundation. Hence, the current study is aimed to investigate the static and dynamic resistance of power hammer machine foundation by employing the high strain dynamic load test (DLT). The test procedure involves measuring the acceleration, axial force and settlement at the top of the machine foundation. Additionally, the soil resistance pertaining to damping is assumed to disappear with the zero-velocity at the first moment, which is identical to the unloading point method (UPM). Also, the field test and axisymmetric finite element analysis by considering the nonlinear soil model were performed to evaluate the stress settlement curve (SSC) from both SLT and DLT. The results reveal that the capacity of the machine foundation subjected to repetitive dynamic loads increases gradually and then tend to remain stable in case of additional impact loads. The SLTs showed 3–4 % higher static resistance than the first DLT and 8–9 % reduction in contrast to the second DLT. Moreover, the residual plastic deformation of the soil beneath the machine foundation was recorded to rapidly increase at the beginning of hammer tamping while it decreased steadily with further increasing of the hammer blows.