Soil Thermal Response to Temperature Cycles and End Boundary Conditions of Energy Piles
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148, Issue 5
Abstract
This paper explores the influence of building cover and pile toe boundary conditions on ground temperature distributions surrounding energy piles. Experimental and numerical studies were conducted on two isolated cast-in-place energy piles installed in dense unsaturated sand, one exposed to the atmosphere at the ground surface ( and ) and the other installed under a six-story building ( and ). Investigations were conducted for monotonic heating and daily cyclic temperature changes of the piles ranging between 10°C and 35°C. The changes in ground temperature decreased as radial distance increased from the edge of both piles. Cyclic temperatures in both piles induced lower ground temperature changes and decreased the radial thermal influence zone compared with monotonic heating. However, the radial thermal zone in cyclic operating mode can be influenced by different ratios of heating to cooling times and hence should be selected carefully to avoid unexpected ground temperature changes. Atmospheric effects were observed up to a depth of 2 m for the energy pile exposed to the atmosphere. The insulation provided by the building footprint slightly decreased the impacts of ground-atmosphere interaction on the soil temperature distribution with depth near the surface compared to the energy pile exposed to the atmosphere. The ground temperature variations were dominant along the length of the heat exchanger loops for both piles. However, they were negligible near the pile toe below the heat exchanger loops for both piles.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This research project was supported by the Australian Research Council’s Linkage Projects funding scheme (Project No. LP120200613). The unrestrained energy pile installation was funded by the Victorian Government Sustainability Fund (2009–2012), Vibropile Pty. Ltd., Golder Associates Pty. Ltd., and GeoExchange Australia Pty. Ltd. (Project No. 4678). US National Science Foundation grant CMMI-0928159 supported the fourth author. The support of all the sponsors is gratefully acknowledged.
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© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 31, 2020
Accepted: Jan 21, 2022
Published online: Mar 11, 2022
Published in print: May 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Aug 11, 2022
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