Numerical investigation of the mechanical behaviour of single energy piles and energy pile groups

摘要

The effect of thermal loading on the mechanical behaviour of single energy piles and energy pilesrnin pile groups is investigated. Finite element analyses are presented, in which both thermal and mechanical loadsrnare applied to the piles.The numerical modelling procedure is first validated against a documented in the literaturernfull-scale experiment. Subsequently, two numerical investigations are presented. In the first investigation, therneffect of thermal loading on the axial response of single piles is examined. The second numerical investigationrninvolves axially loaded 3×3 pile groups with a rigid cap, in which either the centre pile or all piles of the grouprnare thermo-active. It is shown that the effect of thermal loading on the axial pile forces is significant and dependsrnon the number of piles that are thermally active in the pile group and on the relative values of the coefficient ofrnthermal expansion of the pile and the ground.