The O-cell Advantages
DESIGN: Excellent tool for value engineering foundation redesign.
HIGH TEST LOAD CAPACITIES: Test loads routinely exceed 27 MN, however, O-cell test capacities are available from 0.44 MN to greater than 200 MN under suitable conditions.
REDUCED WORK AREA: Required work area (overhead and laterally) is greatly reduced vs. any other static load testing system. Testing has been performed inside buildings, under overpasses, in narrow interstate/highway median strips and off-shore.
TIME: Testing is performed once concrete has reached suitable strength. (which typically takes 7-14 days from pile installation)
IMPROVED SAFETY: No reaction system is required at ground level and the test energy is safely buried well below ground.
ROCK SOCKETS: High test loads can be applied directly on deeply buried rock or soil formations without load shedding in overlaying soils, which eliminates the need for de-bonding techniques.
DEEP CUT-OFF LEVELS: O-cell testing with deep cut-off levels below ground can be performed; eliminating pile extensions to ground level and pile head preparations.
PILES WITH PLUNGE COLUMNS: Where steel columns have been cast in the top of the pile, these often interfere with top-down testing techniques, and the O-cell testing method is likely to be the only cost effective way of performing a full scale static load tests on these piles.
ACCURACY: Since there are no anchors, reaction piles or a reaction mass required, the influences, in terms of modified test pile performance, resulting from the construction and the use of anchors, reaction piles or a reaction mass required in top-down static testing, are eliminated.
ECONOMY: The O-cell method becomes more economical as loads increase, unlike top-down static tests.
SHEAR / END BEARING COMPONENTS: The O-cell tests are designed to separate test piles into 2 or 3 pile sections; thus automatically measuring the reaction of each of the components.
AUTOMATION / STATIC CREEP EFFECTS: The O-cell test is a static maintained load test and uses automatic data acquisition techniques and load maintenance for accurate, efficient data processing and creep measurements.
PRODUCTION PILES: Post-test grouting techniques allow for testing of production piles.
PERFORMANCE: The subsequent performance of O-cell tested production piles will be similar to the non-tested production piles due to the lower amount of generated residual stresses in the pile, as compared to applying full test loads "top-down."
OFF-SHORE: The O-cell test method particularly excels in off-shore testing environments due to its numerous advantages illustrated above.
Patent US5,576,494
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