Effects of End Restraints on Thermo-Mechanical Response of Energy Piles

Currently, soil structure interaction in energy piles has not been understood thoroughly. One of the important underlying features is the effect of tip and head restraints on displacement, strain and stress in energy piles. This study has investigated thermo-mechanical response of energy piles subjected to different end restraints by using recently found analytical solutions, thus providing a fundamental, rational, mechanics-based understanding. End restraints are found to have a substantial effect on thermo-mechanical response of energy piles, especially on thermal axial displacement and axial stress in the pile. Head restraint imposed by interaction of an energy pile with the superstructure led to a decrease in the magnitude of head displacement and increase in axial stress, while decreasing the axial strain. The impact of head restraint was more pronounced in end bearing than in fully floating energy piles.
10 pages, 7 figures