Design of High-Performance Prestressed Concrete Piles for Dynamic Loading

Although prestressed concrete piling have given exemplary performance as foundation piling and there exists ample guidance as to their design, manufacture, and installation for such purposes, recent extensions of their application to more demanding situations requires a renewed look at the criteria for longitudinal prestress (precompression) and spiral confinement.

Problem areas include the occasional occurrence of transverse cracking under heavy driving into erratic soils, longitudinal cracking during and after installation, and the need for ductile response to imposed deformations due to earthquakes.

A more rational analysis is attempted to explain and quantify these phenomena and the stresses and strains developed. Recommendations are then made giving values of prestress and steel requirements that will enable these severe criteria to be met. Some of these recommendations are supported by tests that are as yet unreported elsewhere.

It is believed that these recommendations will enhance the capabilities of prestressed concrete piling and thus make practicable their extension to more demanding applications.