Installation of sheet piles in urban areas can lead to building damage. Driving of sheet piles is usually done with a vibratory hammer, which creates a vibration at the surface. This vibration travels through the subsurface to the surrounding buildings. The installation force, soil profile and building characteristics influence the intensity of the vibration and the impact on the surroundings. VibraCore uses the Dutch CUR166 for sheet piles and PrePal for foundation piles to predict the vibration velocity. Using the SBR-A the vibration limit values are set for each building and the predictions are tested. Because most attributes have a spatial component, the result is presented in maps, allowing the user to get a good overview of the spatial distribution of the risks. The VibraCore tool for calculating the impact based on sheet piles is now available in the VIKTOR platform. This blog will tell u some more about this new piece of software.

Step 1: Upload your GEF file
A GEF file contains the soil information from the CPT. You can upload as many files as necessary for your project. Based on this information and using our Machine Learning model an interpretation is made of the soil layers. Next the soil parameters are generated based on table 2B, NEN 9997-1 (2017). The soil classification is used for the calculation of the installation force. Installing a sheet pile sometimes requires an enormous amount of force, especially when firm sand and/ or gravel layers are present.

Step 2: Calculate Impact Force
To calculate the installation force, additional parameters are needed. The pile type, installation level and installation method result in the amount of force needed to install the sheet pile. Note that the result is shown on the map at the CPT location. Allowing the engineer to quickly make an assessment of the spatial relation of installation force at the project location.

Step 3: Set installation location
Once we know the installation force of the sheet pile, we focus on the installation location. Note that the installation location can be a line, point or polygon. Based on the drawn geometry (blue line parallel to the canal, figure below), building information retrieved from BAG is automatically displayed.

Step 4: Classify the buildings
To check the vibration velocity caused by the installation of the sheet piles against the appropriate limit value of the buildings, the buildings need to be classified according to the SBR-A. By drawing polygons around the buildings, the appropriate SBR-A class can be assigned to the buildings. Assigning the appropriate class requires expert knowledge of the user, for instance by doing a (virtual) site visit or building archive investigation. Draw as many polygons as needed to classify surrounding buildings. Note that each individual building must be fully enclosed by the polygon, and the top polygon is favored.

Step 5: Validation!
Last step is to configure your reference location to properly set the soil reaction and set the monitoring strategy (indicative, limited or extensive). If buildings fail the validation, they are shown in red with the minimal distance required, you should consider redesigning the project or adjust the sheet pile installation method. You can go back to step 2 to calculate the force needed to push the sheet pile to the desired depth. Of course, the calculation report is available for download.

Congratulations! You did a risk assessment for placing sheet piles in an urban area!

More information
Try VibraCore on the VIKTOR platform

"The visualized workflow and the automatically generated pictures and figures in VibraCore makes doing a vibration risk assessment much faster" - ir. ing. Jorrit de Vries

"The systematic user interface makes it easy and fast to get a clear result of a vibration analysis. Instead of figuring out which CPT will give the highest impact on the surroundings, I can now let VibraCore calculate all CPT's and do the work for me." - ing. Sander Broeders

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