What is Pile Hammer?


Pile driving hammers have been considered one of the greatest inventions among building equipment.

What is a pile driver and what sets it apart from other pile driving equipment? 

A Pile hammer is a heavy construction equipment that is designed and engineered to drive piles into the ground to set a deep foundation and other related construction projects. Setting piles into the soil requires a rapid number of downward blows and impacting jaws to grip and position the piles into the ground through pile driving equipment. 

Pile driving hammers are of different types and engineered for different purposes. For instance, what is used to extract piles from the soil is different from what is used to drive piles to create support for structures like retention ponds and steel piling. Although there are pile driving hammers that are for extraction purposes and used to drive piles at the same time.

1、Hydraulic Pile Driving Rig

Hydraulic vibro hammer sheet pile driving is a powerful and efficient way to drive piles into the ground for construction projects. It employs an excavator-mounted vibratory hammer that is coupled to a heavy-duty Hydraulic Pile Driving Rig that drives the pile in with the power of the excavator’s engine. This approach can be utilized on any type of excavation project, from small home foundations to huge industrial ones, and it is capable of quickly and efficiently breaking up soil and rock. This tool’s vibrations are powerful enough to offer quick results while keeping prices low, making it a vital piece of equipment for any construction operation.

Hydraulic Pile Driving Rigs are similar to diesel impact hammers. The only difference is that the hydraulic impact hammer is more modern compared to diesel and air hammers. 
It is powerful foundation equipment that is capable of driving precast concrete piles, including steel piles and beams. Its main energy source is the hydraulic power packs.

Even though it’s similar to diesel hammers, a Hydraulic Pile Driving Rig is more eco-friendly. It is capable of hitting 80 blows per minute while operating without exhaust fumes expelling into the air. It features a high productivity rate and it’s capable of driving timber piles, H-piles, a steel sheet pile, and other concrete piles within a short time with lesser noise.
As a piece of construction equipment, its essential roles are enormous. It can be used for different concrete piles including building and demolition in the construction industry. 
For other structures, Hydraulic Pile Driving Rigs are capable of breaking dirt to dig a hole, breaking rocks, and setting deep foundations and driven piles.
For demolition purposes, it can break through tough materials, walls and uproot deep foundations.
The Hydraulic Pile Driving Rig mainly consists of two hammer types, one features an inner valve while the other features an outer valve. They perform the same function and feature the same inner parts, which includes:
Nitrogen chamber: this helps to provide power that makes Hydraulic Pile Driving Rigs function. 
Front cap: helps to keep the hammer extension safe during operation 
Main valve: the moving part that assists the hammer during impact. 
Side rods: This part is engineered to support hoisted hammer application.

2、Diesel Pile Hammer

Diesel hammers have an increased compression pressure that rides the piston. It is also a necessity in the pile foundation industry.
The diesel pile driver falls under the category of drop hammers among construction equipment. It features a diesel engine that has a two-stroke and uses diesel fuel. The pump lever is triggered by the piston upon the drop of a diesel hammer. 
Air mixture and compressed diesel fuel ignite the power of a diesel pile hammer while transporting its energy to the pile head.
The diesel engine operation mode is in stages, which are:
Fuel is injected when the ram is put up:

Compression

At this point, air and fuel are compressed together due to the closing of the exhaust. It also drops freely as the ram is expelled. 
Effect and Combustion
The air/fuel combination is heated and ignites as a result of the compaction. It also features a flexible fuel pump that regulates the piston, so that when it’s operating, the pile attains impact with the hammer.  

Expansion

When the hammer weight reaches impact, the pile gets into the soil. This impact also causes the ram to drive upwards. At this point, fresh air will be present, and the cycle will begin again until all the fuel is drained or it’s halted by the builders.
Diesel hammers are also great during a soil formation change. Another advantageous feature is the sufficient power supply it has without depending on any external power source.