A practical method for calculating thermally-induced stresses in pile foundations used as heat exchangers
Author(s)
Liu, Ryan
Sailer, Eleonora
Taborda, David
Potts, David
Zdravkovic, Lidija
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Thermo-active piles are capable of providing both structural stability as foundations and low carbon heating and cooling as ground source heat exchangers. When subjected to heating or cooling, the soil surrounding the pile restricts its expansion or contraction, giving rise to thermally-induced axial stresses, which need to be considered during design. Previous numerical studies often assume axisymmetry of the problem and/or a simplification of the heating or cooling mechanism of the pile. To simulate accurately the development of thermallyinduced axial stresses, this paper presents a computational study comprising three dimensional fully coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical finite element analyses conducted using the Imperial College Finite Element Program (ICFEP), where the heating of a thermo-active pile is simulated by prescribing a flow of hot water through the heat exchanger pipes within the pile. The effects of pipe arrangement on thermally-induced axial stresses are investigated by considering three different cases – single U loop, double U-loop and triple U-loop. Since threedimensional analyses are computationally expensive, a simplified method using a combination of two-dimensional analyses is proposed to estimate the thermally-induced axial stresses, which is subsequently validated and shown to yield accurate results.
Date Issued
2020-10
Date Acceptance
2020-07-07
Citation
Computers and Geotechnics, 2020, 126, pp.1-16
ISSN
0266-352X
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
1
End Page
16
Journal / Book Title
Computers and Geotechnics
Volume
126
Copyright Statement
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This manuscript is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Sponsor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Imperial College London
Geotechnical Consulting Group
Identifier
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0266352X20303062?via%3Dihub
Grant Number
President's Award
CISM_P60087
Subjects
Geological & Geomatics Engineering
0905 Civil Engineering
0914 Resources Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy
0915 Interdisciplinary Engineering
Publication Status
Published online
Date Publish Online
2020-07-28