ABSTRACT
Integrating geothermal loops into conventional structural piles constitutes an environmentally friendly way for the heating and cooling of a building. Energy piles take advantage of the shallow geothermal energy in order to satisfy the thermal needs of the building. However, the exploitation of geothermal energy creates additional thermal loads. Thermomechanical finite element analyses are conducted in order to examine the effect of the additional thermal loads on the mechanical behaviour of single energy piles in sand. Both mechanical and thermal loads are applied. The paper summarizes the effect of the thermal loads on the axial stress response and the settlement of thermoactive piles. The effect of pile head restraints (free or fixed pile head), the duration of thermal loading and the coefficient of thermal expansion are investigated in the parametric analyses. Several observations made in previous studies are confirmed here and important factors that control the behaviour of energy piles are quantified for the case of single axially loaded piles in sand.
