Centrifuge modelling of an energy pile group in sand: instrumentation and testing details
Centrifuge modelling of an energy pile group in sand: instrumentation and testing details
Energy piles are being widely used worldwide to harness shallow geothermal energy for building cooling and heating. Recent studies have shown that a balanced operation of a thermo-active foundation system, alternating heating, and cooling loads, can improve its efficiency. However, cyclic alternate thermal loads can affect the pile-soil interaction mechanism of heat exchanger piles and of nearby piles. A centrifuge model was designed and tested at the Université Gustave Eiffel (Nantes) to evaluate the thermal-mechanical behavior of a group of two piles in very dense saturated sand: one energy pile and one conventional pile. This paper introduces some challenges and insights into centrifuge testing to study the behavior of heat exchanger piles. Details of the experimental program and instrumentation used for the model tests, a description of the difficulties and the solutions founded, and some recommendations for future research are presented. Finally, the instrumentation used for the experiments allowed measurement of different parameters providing a better understanding of the problem investigated.
Leticia Menezes Santos Sa; Thierry Dubreucq; Matthieu Blanc; Jean De Sauvage; Cristina De Hollanda Cavalcanti Tsuha
5th European Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (ECPMG2024)
Energy geo-structures and climate effects
https://doi.org/10.53243/ECPMG2024-38
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