The Influence of Concrete Age on the Accuracy of Pile Integrity Testing on Bored Piles Foundation

Abstract

Bored pile foundations are defined as deep foundations in the form of an elongated tube with a specific diameter made of reinforced concrete installed using the drilling method and in-situ casting concrete. The cast in-situ process in bored holes with a deep elevation below the ground surface can potentially cause integrity problems, such as voids, segregation, fracture, necking, bulging, and other concrete defects. Currently, many non-destructive test methods are available to ensure the quality of the bored pile; one is the Low Strain Integrity Testing method, also known as Pile Integrity Testing (PIT). ASTM recommends that PIT should be carried out no sooner than 7 days after casting or the strength of the concrete has reached a minimum of 75,0% of its design strength. In fact, the PIT test is carried out before the concrete’s age and/or its strength is achieved, considering the limited construction time. This could lead to misinterpretation of the PIT test results and inaccurate identification of the bored pile defect locations. The study aims to determine the effect of concrete age on the accuracy of bored pile defect locations on a laboratory scale. The test model consisted of four bored piles with a diameter of 0,3 meters and a depth of 2,0 meters, which were cast using reinforced concrete with a design strength of fc’ 30 MPa. The PIT was performed at <7, 14, and 28 days of concrete age, and then the confusion matrix method was used to create a binary classification model to determine the accuracy of the defect location. The defect locations were visually observed and validated by dismantling the test model after 28 days of casting. The results showed that the accuracy of identifying the location of concrete defects was not affected by the age of the concrete but was determined by the compressive strength of the concrete during testing. Referring to the F-score, bored piles with concrete strength >75,0% of the design accurately identify defect locations above 84,21%. On the other hand, bored piles with concrete strength <75,0% design resulted in accuracy below 66,67%.