Repository logo

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
  1. Home
  2. Academic and Research Output
  3. Journal articles
  4. Numerical study of the response of a group of energy piles under different combinations of thermo-mechanical loads
 
research article

Numerical study of the response of a group of energy piles under different combinations of thermo-mechanical loads

Di Donna, Alice  
•
Rotta Loria, Alessandro F.  
•
Laloui, Lyesse  
2016
Computers and Geotechnics

Energy piles are rapidly gaining acceptance around the world because they represent a renewable and clean source of energy that can be used for the heating and cooling of buildings, and the de-icing of infrastructures. This technology couples the structural role of pile foundations with an energy supply using the principle of shallow geothermal energy. The exploitation of geothermal energy represents an additional thermal load that is imposed to the foundation and the surrounding soil. Because the primary role of energy piles is the stability of the overlying structure, this aspect must be ensured even in the presence of the additional thermal load. This study summarises the results of 3-D thermo-hydro-mechanical finite element analyses that investigated the behaviour of a group of energy piles for which field data were available. This allowed the nearly unique validation of the numerical approach with experimental data and a confirmation of the reliability of the results. The work provides a summary of the foundation behaviour under both conventional and extreme thermal loading conditions with reference to a geothermal operation of the piles for cooling and/or thermal energy storage applications within one season. The interaction between the piles is studied and the thermally induced group effects analysed. Attention is dedicated to the vertical stress and displacement developments in the piles. The results presented in this study outline crucial aspects that may be considered by engineers for the geotechnical and structural designs of such geostructures.

  • Files
  • Details
  • Metrics
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name

1-s2.0-S0266352X15002402-main.pdf

Access type

restricted

Size

4.46 MB

Format

Adobe PDF

Checksum (MD5)

5869f19f1c1100a44299585683052619

Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
  • Contact
  • infoscience@epfl.ch

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Follow us on LinkedIn
  • Follow us on X
  • Follow us on Youtube
AccessibilityLegal noticePrivacy policyCookie settingsEnd User AgreementGet helpFeedback

Infoscience is a service managed and provided by the Library and IT Services of EPFL. © EPFL, tous droits réservés