Numerical modelling of vibropiling at the test site Altenwalde

This article describes characterization of a site for vibro-installation of large-diameter piles and estimation of soil
parameters for the numerical code VibPile to simulate the vibratory pile installations. The code applies new
computational models for the far field elastodynamic springs and accounts for the soil stiffness and damping outside
and inside the pile. A minimum number of input soil parameters such as interface friction angle, shear wave velocity
and soil density are required. Results of cone penetration test and shear wave velocity measurements in-situ were
applied to estimate the input soil parameter and simulate the penetration of a large monopile with a diameter d=4.3m.
The predicted optimum driving frequency is in good agreement with in-situ results.