Rev Descriptions Engineer Date

1 Initial release Pedro M 14/08/2018

2 Project Modification Anna Ke 26/10/2018

ARCTECH SOLAR MOUNTING SYSTEM

Chile Solek Cabildo & Villa Seca 3MW-SkyLine
Pull Test Procedure Instructions
 INDEX
1. INTRODUCTION 3
2. DEFINE POST CROSS SECTIONS 3
3. AMOUNT AND LOCATION OF TEST SAMPLES 3
4. PROCEDURE TO INSERT POSTS INTO THE GROUND & POST EMBEDMENT 5
5. TEST LOADING 5
6. PASS/FAIL CRITERIA 7
1. INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this document is to provide instructions on how to perform a “Pull-Out Test” (aka POT). It also
includes all roles and responsibilities of the involved parties, both internal and external to Arctech Solar.
Project Description
Customer PV Power
Project Cabildo & Villa Seca 3MW
Location 15 kilómetros al sur oriente de la localidad de Cabildo, en la V región
de Valparaíso
Test Company

Arctech Input
Doc Prepared by
Doc Date

Pull Test Vendor Input

Post install Date Date when posts have been driven
Test Date Date when posts have been load tested

2. DEFINE POST CROSS SECTIONS

Material according to:
ASTM A6, Standard Specification for General Requirements for Rolled Structural Steel Bars, Plates, Shapes,
and Sheet Piling.
ASTM A123, Standard Specification for Zinc (Hot-Dip Galvanized) Coatings on Iron and Steel Products.
Exterior Rows (All trackers will be exterior rows)
Motor Pile W8x21 –H210x134x6.4x10.2-Q345
Other Pile W8x10 –H200x100x4.3x5.2-Q345

3. AMOUNT AND LOCATION OF TEST SAMPLES

For this project, “N - insert number of posts” posts will be rammed into the ground and load tested.
The exact location and coordinates for all test samples are depicted in the map and coordinates table below
(Figure 1 and Table 1)
Example of site map with boundary and posts location

Figure 1 – site map, depicting exact location of each post to be tested

 COORDENADA X COORDENADA Y PERFIL
P1 731525 4574674 W6x7 W6x15
P2 731612 4574674 W6x7
P3 731448 4574551 W6x7
P4 731581 4574581 W6x7
P5 731684 4574551 W6x7
P6 731460 4574458 W6x7 W6x15
P7 731602 4574488 W6x7
P8 731734 4574458 W6x7
P9 731821 4574458 W6x7 W6x15
P10 731980 4574126 W6x7 W6x15
P11 732035 4574126 W6x7
P12 732145 4574126 W6x7
P13 732237 4574125 W6x7
P14 732025 4574033 W6x7
P15 732111 4574039 W6x7
P16 732278 4574031 W6x7
P17 731985 4573940 W6x7 W6x15
P18 732032 4573944 W6x7
P19 732129 4573929 W6x7
P20 732265 4573934 W6x7
P21 732375 4573939 W6x7
P22 732497 4573928 W6x7 W6x15
P23 731985 4573847 W6x7 W6x15
P24 732069 4573847 W6x7
P25 732190 4573853 W6x7
P26 732313 4573852 W6x7
P27 732436 4573846 W6x7
P28 732128 4573754 W6x7 W6x15
P29 732274 4573749 W6x7
P30 732369 4573748 W6x7
P31 732463 4573749 W6x7 W6x15
P32 732188 4573677 W6x7 W6x15
P33 732324 4573669 W6x7
P34 732414 4573661 W6x7 W6x15
P35 732251 4573568 W6x7
P36 732309 4573568 W6x7 W6x15
P37 733565 4573764 W6x7 W6x15
P38 733676 4573764 W6x7
P39 733595 4573671 W6x7
P40 733699 4573671 W6x7 W6x15
P41 733288 4573578 W6x7
P42 733464 4573574 W6x7
P43 733592 4573577 W6x7 W6x15
P44 733227 4573531 W6x7 W6x15
P45 738315 4573485 W6x7
P46 733503 4573490 W6x7
P47 733545 4573467 W6x7 W6x15
P48 733392 4573439 W6x7
P49 733311 4573392 W6x7 W6x15
Example of coordinates table P50 733414 4573376 W6x7
Table 1 – GPS Coordinates of all posts to be tested (Example)
4. PROCEDURE TO INSERT POSTS INTO THE GROUND & POST EMBEDMENT
Posts should be rammed into the ground according to the same procedure of definitive product installation in
the field. Figure 1 illustrate a ramming machine driving a post into the ground.

Figure 1. Direct Driven Pillars.

In case of rejection, i.e, if the soil is too hard or rocky, and prevents penetration to the specified depth, we
should drill a hole and then ram the post through it. Here is the detailed procedure for this case:
- Drill a hole with a diameter 10 millimeter smaller than the cross-section’s maximum dimension (Figure 2).
- Fill the hole with the material extracted while drilling
- Ram the post through the hole

Picture 2. Drilling Machine and hole size specification, in case of rejection.

The table below specify the embedment in meters, for all posts to be tested.
Embedment (depth into the ground) Insert embedment value provided by client

5. TEST LOADING
All posts need to be tested with two types of loads (see Figure 3):
1. Lateral Force V – applied against posts flanges, i.e. along the web of the cross-section,
2. Axial or Vertical Force N - along the beam length trying to pull it out of the ground.
 hLOAD=1 m hMEASUREMENT=5 cm

Figure 3. Horizontal and vertical loads

The lateral test shall always be done prior to the vertical test.
The lateral force needs to be applied 1 m off the ground surface and the dial indicator, which measures
displacement, is placed 5 cm off the same surface. The most straightforward way to perform this test is to
wrap a hoisting strap around the post at the specified height, attach a digital dynamometer to it, and pull the
whole arrangement. Figure 4 illustrates some possible provisions to carry this test out.
With regards to the vertical pull test, we can either clamp the pulling machine to the top of the post or drill
the post web and use shackles, straps and the digital dynamometer. See Figure 5 for possible methods to
complete the vertical test.

Figure 4. Arrangements for applying load and measure displacement during the Horizontal test
 Figure 5. Arrangements for applying load and measure displacement during the Vertical test

The loads to use were obtained according to AISC 360, ASD detail structure design and are summarized in the
table below
Exterior Rows-Motor Pile (load to be
by Arctech engineering)
W8x21 (kN)
Lateral 55
Vertical 11

Exterior Rows-Normal Pile

W8x10 (kN)
Lateral 9
Vertical 15

Figure 6. Load profile for Pull-Out testing

The loads in the tables above are to be applied according to the load profile depicted in Figure 6. There are 5
loading steps: 50%, 75%, 100%, 125% and 150% of the specified load. The post will remain continuously
under load for 1 minute on each loading step. Then, the load will be discharged for 10 seconds before loading
the following step. Displacements will be recorded at each 60 seconds step.

6. PASS/FAIL CRITERIA
For the embedment to be considered adequate, i.e., for passing the test, both horizontal and vertical total
displacements should remain below 25 mm at 100% of the test load.
Moreover, the permanent displacement (elastic + plastic) measured after unloading the 100% load step, shall
not be greater than 10 mm for the specified embedment to be considered adequate.