S - Kam Ng PhD Dissertation Final.pdf - Digital Repository of CCEE ...

19Section 2.8.2.2. Historical SummaryDynamic analysis methods were developed by applying the theory of wavepropagation. Svinkin and Woods (1998) noted that the first solution to this dynamic analysisproblem in the longitudinal direction of piles was suggested by St. Venant almost a centuryago. In 1931, D. V. Isaacs was the first researcher to highlight the occurrence of wave actionduring pile driving, but it was E. N. Fox who published the first solution to this problem in1938 (Smith 1962). Soon after the Second World War and with the advent of the digitalcomputer, Smith (1962) developed a mathematical model of a hammer-pile-soil system tocharacterize the actual behavior of both the pile and surrounding soil under a hammer impact.Furthermore, Smith, who was one of the first to use a digital computer in solving pileproblems, developed the first computer program for driving analysis of piles (Goble et al.1980). Details of the Smith’s model for pile dynamic analysis are discussed in Section 2.4.2.The Smith’s model has been modified and improved by many researchers. One of theseimproved methods is known as the Case method that was developed by Professor G.G. Gobleand his students in 1960s through funding from the Ohio Department of Transportation(ODOT) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) at Case Western Reserve University.Concurrently, a data acquisition system called the Pile Driving Analyzer (PDA) wasdeveloped using the Case method to measure strains and accelerations during pile driving.In 1970, a rigorous numerical modeling technique called the Case Pile Wave AnalysisProgram (CAPWAP) was developed by Professor Goble and his students using the PDA datato evaluate the pile resistance (Hannigan et al. 1998). Both the PDA and CAPWAP softwarehave been commercially available since 1972 (Coduto, 2001). After successfully developingthe PDA and CAPWAP, the FHWA continuously supported Drs. Goble and Rausche for thedevelopment of a computer program known as WEAP using the Smith’s concept. In 1976,the WEAP program was commercialized by GRL Engineers, Inc., and it has beencontinuously improved until the present time.