About Us
Who we are
Pile Dynamics, Inc, a growing company headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, is the largest manufacturer of foundation dynamic testing equipment in the world. A superb team of civil engineers, electronic engineers, software developers and technicians make the constant development of the PDI line of products possible and highly relevant to the deep foundation industry. PDI excels in product quality and customer support. PDI has a network of sales representatives spread from the Far East to Europe to South America to Australia. PDI products improve the quality assurance of deep foundations on jobsites in over 100 countries throughout the world.
History
Beginning in the mid 1960s, at Case Western Reserve University (Case)[i], a research project entitled Dynamic Studies on the Bearing Capacity of Piles, was underway which several graduate students and faculty investigated. Dr, Frank Rausche, advised by Professors George Goble and Fred Moses, used one-dimensional stress wave theory to derive the Case Formula which still today is the heart of the Pile Driving Analyzer® (PDA). This device calculates the pile bearing capacity in real time from impact tests on foundation piles.
Furthermore, Rausche developed signal matching software, later called CAPWAP®, which rigorously analyzes the PDA data to assess the soil response and determine the pile bearing capacity and its resistance distribution. Together these two tools are necessary and sufficient to establish a valid dynamic load test.
After Pile Dynamics Inc. (PDI) was established in 1972, Rausche together with Garland Likins, another former Case graduate student, further transformed the University prototypes into a routinely usable device and user-friendly software. They implemented many new details of dynamic soil modeling and transducer technology and described these efforts in many publications and presentations. CAPWAP is the only dynamic testing tool with an extensive published correlation study comparing its results favorably with static load tests; as a result CAPWAP is the industry standard in signal matching software. Based on this thorough research and development effort PDI’s dynamic pile testing methods found acceptance around the world.
PDI continues to innovate the deep foundations industry through the development of quality assurance/quality control testing equipment and technologies. Our technologies are used worldwide on various types of deep foundation structures, both onshore and offshore. We offer superior client support, customized training in the use of our equipment, as well as continuing education through foundation testing workshops, seminars and webinars around the world. Visit our extensive library of educational offerings at pile.com/Pile-Events.
[i] Originally Case Institute of Technology and later Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH (CWRU).
Today
More than ever, Pile Dynamics is committed to quality, research, innovation and superior customer care. And, every PDI instrument includes technical support. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, PDI products excel in quality, reliability, accuracy and durability.
“We not only build pieces of equipment and perform testing, we are actually the developers of the testing methods themselves,”
Dr. Frank Rausche, Founder
