Vibro-Engineering and the Technology of Piling and Boring Work

Citation: Tseitlin, M.G., Verstov, V.V., and Azbel, G.G. (1987) Vibro-Engineering and The Technology of Piling and Boring Work. (In Russian) Leningrad: Stroiizdat, Leningradskoe Otdelenie.

This work is an excellent and detailed treatment of the titled subject. We will present an English translation of the parts of the work that most directly deal with vibration and impact-vibration of piles and the equipment used to perform the work. You can click on the hyperlinked chapters to view them.

General Information
1. The essence of the development of vibratory immersion and extraction.
2. Calculational models of the interaction of the immersion (extraction) of elements with the ground.
3. Effective region of the application of the method of vibration and the classification of vibratory machines.
4. Application of vibratory technology.
Foundation of the theory of vibratory driving and extraction.
Vibration and Impact Vibration Drivers
1. Characteristics of the dynamics of vibration and impact-vibration drivers.
2. Methods for approximate calculation of the parameters of vibratory drivers and impact-vibration hammers.
3. Vibrators and impact-vibrators.
4. Means of protection from vibration loading of mechanisms, works, with vibroexcitation.
5. Status of vibratory pile driving abroad.
Vibratory technology for production piling.
1. Installation and extraction of metal sheet piling.
2. Installation of prismatic steel reinforced concrete pile.
3. Installation of cylinder piles.
4. Installation of pile groups by vibratory technology.
5. Less frequent applications of piles immersed by vibrational methods and produced by vibration technology.
6. Application of vibratory methods nearby essential buildings.
Vibratory Technology of the manufacture drilled works for contractors.
1. General information for the application of vibratory methods to drilled works.
2. The capabilities of geotechnical engineering and other drilling technologies.
3. Capabilities of continuous and connected types for impact-cabled drilling of water wells.
4. Installation and extraction of casing for the procession of impact-cabled drilling.
5. Installation of filter columns for the installation of engraving delay of filter holes for water.
6. Restoration of hole production for water near their openings and repairs.
7. Extraction of planted pipe near liquid holes.
Vibratory technology for the production of some appearances of special construction works.
1. Application of vibratory technology near the construction of remote projects.
2. Construction of slender notification curtains.
3. Application of vibratory technology near the layings of tubes.
4. Vibratory technology of the depth compaction of sandy foundations.

Editor’s Forward

In 1988, while still at Vulcan, I made my first visit to the then Soviet Union with my brother Pem, our Executive Vice President. The visit had some interesting twists and turns along the way. One side trip from Moscow was to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg,) where we were able to view a B-402 vibrator drive sheet piles. (A contemporaneous account of the visit is given below.) Although we never really pursued further commercial discussions, one thing we were sent was the book Vibro-Engineering and the Technology of Piling and Boring Work, parts of which we reproduce here in translation.

Although it is acknowledged that vibratory (and impact-vibration hammers) were brought into practical use in the Soviet Union, there are very few details of this readily available. (Most of them are probably on this website!) The publishing of the English translation here will hopefully fill in some of the history and perhaps advance the technology in its present form.

Vulcan commissioned Language Services in Knoxville, TN, to translate the parts of the work that are presented here. Although we freely admit that some of the translation is too literal, the content is of sufficient value that it merits posting. We have edited the text some to make the nomenlcature more in line with terminology used in the U.S.

Visit to Leningrad (April 1988)

In Moscow we went to Leningrad Station about 2300 to take the train to Leningrad. We were met by Mr. A.A. Orlov, Chief Engineer of the All-Union Construction and Energy Mechanization Organization of the Ministry of Energy and Electrification of the USSR, and his assistant. We then took the train to Leningrad and arrived about 0830.

We were met there by a delegation from the Organization, which first took us to the Moscow Hotel where we got a room and prepared for the day. Included in the delegation were E.A. Narozhnitskii, (Director) and M.L. Pevzner of the Leningrad Experimental Factory of Construction Machinery. We then went to a jobsite in Leningard, where they were building a tunnel under the river. They had been working on this project for a year and had managed to drive some sheet piling. Their vibratory hammer was driving some Laarsen sections about 24m in length, which they did using their vibratory hammer. On the vibratory, an electric motor mounted in the suspension plate on top of the hammer and a chain drive system extending from the suspension to the gearbox. The clamp is able to drive only one sheet at a time. The hammer is electric, about the eccentric moment of the 1150 but with about half of the power. The power comes from the electric power grid (that is to say, they plug it in somewhere), and they have a control box to provide the necessary circuitry to start and stop the 3-phase motors. In spite of the potential to gear up or down, the electric motor and eccentrics both rotate at1500 rpm, and they have other models that are slower. It took them about 5-10 minutes through the glacial till they were driving through. The hammer is quiet though and, without the power pack, the noise was limited.

The V-402, driving sheet piles in Leningrad.

After this, we went on and eventually had lunch back in the Moscow Hotel. After lunch, about 1530, we sat down for a conversation about the hammers. We explained the construction and operation of our equipment, but they thought that we used too much power for our eccentric moment, that we were wasting power and that our additional power could not accomplish anything. I replied that the only way to know this for sure was to run a race amongst the units and see. They also told us that they thought electric vibratory was better and planned to stick with it in their programme. Nevertheless, the door was kept open by both sides for further discussion, as they felt that there was potential for this. We also invited them to Chattanooga (our headquarters) for further discussions.