Driveability of FRP composite piling

Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites represent an alternative construc tion material without many of the performance disadvantages of traditional materials. Although composite materials present a number of difficulties re lated to pile driving, including low stiffness, high damping, and low stren gth, the use of FRP as a pile material can eliminate deterioration problems of conventional piling materials in waterfront environments and aggressive soils. This paper is a theoretical parametric study of the effect of vario us pile properties and soil conditions on the driveability of FRP composite piling in a typical waterfront site. All analyses performed show that comp osite piling could be driven to reasonable capacities for load-bearing pile s. The parameters studied include the effect of pile modulus, damping ratio , unit weight, residual stresses, and hammer type on the efficiency of driv ing of FRP piling relative to conventional piling materials.