TY - JOUR
T1 - Small-Scale Modeling of Thermomechanical Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Energy Piles in Soil
AU - Zhao, Rui
AU - Leung, Anthony Kwan
AU - Vitali, Davide
AU - Knappett, Jonathan Adam
AU - Zhou, Zheng
PY - 2020/4
Y1 - 2020/4
N2 - Small-scale physical model tests have been increasingly used to study the thermomechanical soil-pile interaction, but existing model piles are highly simplified and do not have representative thermal properties or the quasi-brittle mechanical behavior of RC. This study aims to overcome these shortcomings by presenting a new type of model RC. This consists of a mortar (plaster, sand, and water) with copper powder added to tune the mixture's thermal properties, along with a steel reinforcing cage. Fine sand was used to represent geometrical scaling of the prototype aggregates to correctly capture the quasi-brittle structural response. Adding copper powder content of 6% (by volume) matched the coefficient of thermal expansion and thermal conductivity of prototype concrete without changing the axial and flexural properties of model piles. In 1g soil-structure interaction tests, the model pile was able to serve as an effective heat exchanger for transferring heat from a water-carrying pipe embedded within the mortar to the surrounding soil. The model RC exhibited cyclic pile head settlement due to repeated pile heating and cooling.
AB - Small-scale physical model tests have been increasingly used to study the thermomechanical soil-pile interaction, but existing model piles are highly simplified and do not have representative thermal properties or the quasi-brittle mechanical behavior of RC. This study aims to overcome these shortcomings by presenting a new type of model RC. This consists of a mortar (plaster, sand, and water) with copper powder added to tune the mixture's thermal properties, along with a steel reinforcing cage. Fine sand was used to represent geometrical scaling of the prototype aggregates to correctly capture the quasi-brittle structural response. Adding copper powder content of 6% (by volume) matched the coefficient of thermal expansion and thermal conductivity of prototype concrete without changing the axial and flexural properties of model piles. In 1g soil-structure interaction tests, the model pile was able to serve as an effective heat exchanger for transferring heat from a water-carrying pipe embedded within the mortar to the surrounding soil. The model RC exhibited cyclic pile head settlement due to repeated pile heating and cooling.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85079482198&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0002225
DO - 10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0002225
M3 - Article
VL - 146
JO - Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
JF - Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
SN - 1090-0241
IS - 4
M1 - 04020011
ER -