Review of Experimental Studies on Energy Pile Behavior under Lateral and Inclined Loading

Energy piles have emerged as a prominent renewable energy option for heating and cooling buildings. Their use can provide a viable alternative to fossil fuels for meeting a building's thermal demands. An energy pile, also known as a "heat exchanger pile," is equipped with multiple pipes to facilitate heat exchange with the surrounding soil. Energy piles serve a dual function: they transfer structural loads to bearing strata and simultaneously act as a heat exchanger with the ground. These piles are thus subjected to two distinct types of loading: mechanical loads and thermal loads. This combined loading significantly influences the resulting displacements, stresses, and strains within the pile. Notably, thermal loading can induce axial stresses that are considerably larger than those caused by the building's weight. Research indicates that an increasing number of thermal cycles leads to an increase in the axial force within the pile. The first thermal cycle typically causes the largest settlement, with subsequent cycles resulting in a gradual reduction of this settlement magnitude. In this paper, based on experimental investigations, the short-term and long-term behavior of energy piles under lateral and inclined loadings has been examined. Furthermore, this study investigates changes in settlement, soil pressure, pile behavior under thermal cycles, and variations in bending moment induced in the pile during lateral loading. Generally, energy piles exhibit heave during heating and settlement during cooling.

کلیدواژه ها:

Renewable Energy ، Energy Piles ، Thermomechanical Behavior ، Heating and Cooling