A numerical model for continuous impact pile driving using ALE adaptive mesh method

Pile installation through consecutive hammer impacts is called impact pile driving which has increasingly exploited as the most efficient method, though the generated ground vibrations have great potential to undermine its surrounding structures. However, correct numerical simulation of pile driving process to credibly predict the ground vibrations has been the main problem to date. Hence, to significantly improve the predictions of ground vibrations, a continuous pile driving model from the ground surface to final installation depth, unlike previous common discontinuous pile driving, was employed using an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) adaptive mesh method, accurate simulation of the pile-soil interaction, and elimination of previous researchers simplified assumptions. The results were verified with field measurements which indicate a remarkably better match compared to the previous numerical studies. Moreover, an elastic pile consideration rather than rigid conditions was led to a better consistency of the ground vibration results with field measurements.