Dear colleagues,
At the up-coming Stress Wave Conference from September 20 till 23rd 2022 we will share knowledge and skills with colleagues in our interesting special line of work. Besides regular conference days with interesting presentations during scientific sessions, discussions during coffee breaks, etc. at the venue in Rotterdam-city, on the last day of the conference program will be an outdoor demonstration day, with real life foundation and testing equipment in action. Next to a satellite venue on reclaimed land at the Port of Rotterdam (Maasvlakte), a number of piles will be installed and tested before the event, but also during the Demonstration Day itself. The day is especially meant to demonstrate new developments for installation and testing. Therefore, we expressly invite you to contact us if you are developing new methods of installation and testing that can be demonstrated on full scale during this day.
Apart from demonstration for new technical developments at the conference, we planned to use the installation and testing for active participation by visitors of the SW2022 and scientific research. Participating contributes to the knowledge development of consultancy, construction and research in the field of foundation engineering. After the conference all results of the measurements will be available free of charge for further research. There are several aspects; you are free to participate in one or more of these.
We offer you to participate in one (or more) of three topics:
- For drivability we ask you to make predictions of maximum driving stresses, depth of refusal and penetration rate for three types of piles (steel tubular piles diameter 1220 mm, steel tubular piles diameter 610 mm, and prefabricated concrete piles). Steel tubular piles will be installed both by impact driving and vibratory driving. All piles will be installed before the conference.
- For capacity we ask you to make predictions of axial bearing capacity in compression and load-displacement curves (both steel tubular piles and the prefabricated concrete piles) and horizontal capacity and load displacement curves (steel tubular piles only) in advance of the testing;
- For pile integrity we ask you to conduct pile integrity tests on a set of piles (both prefabricated concrete piles as well as cast in situ piles) days before the conference.
The results of all participants will be published anonymously at the demonstration day, but all participants will be acknowledged. Participation offers you a good possibility to improve your knowledge and methods. By summarizing all predictions, we all get better knowledge of the reliability of prediction methods. We plan to make some additional publications after the conference.
Table 1 Overview of the aspects and cases
| aspect | 1220 mm steel tubular piles | 610 mm steel tubular piles | prefabricated concrete piles | cast in situ concrete piles |
| A drivability | yes | yes | yes | no |
| B capacity | yes | yes | yes | optional |
| C integrity | no | no | yes | yes |
More information on participation:
- Making a (class A) prediction of driveability and capacity of the steel tubular piles and prefabricated concrete piles using available data from the field survey. Click here for more information on this event .
- Making a prediction of capacity and stiffness, based on available test data (from driving or dynamic load test or rapid load test. Click here for more information on this event .
- Showing advanced methods of pile integrity testing and contributing to an overview of advances in traditional pile integrity testing, On both cast-in-situ as well as impact driven concrete piles. Click here for more information on this event .
Kind regards,
Michael Schaap
Chair of the demonstration committee
