The Use of the Pile Driving Analyzer for Installing Pile Foundations Brochure

Engineers are always searching for less expensive and more expeditious methods of evaluating engineered systems and materials. Geotechnical and materials engineers are no different.

The pile driving analyzer (PDA) was developed in the 1970’s as a method to directly measure dynamic pile response during driving. As the name implies, it was developed to analyze pile driving and evaluate pile driveability, including the range of stresses imparted to the pile, hammer efficiency, etc. With the development of inexpensive desktop computers, programs were written around the wave equation and estimates of pile capacity, such as CAPWAP, became a part of PDA analyses of pile installation.