Neues Paper: "Thermo-plastic response of energy piles during long-term monotonic cooling" in "Computers and Geotechnics"

22.04.2026

Realistic simulation of energy piles in soft soils requires constitutive models that can capture the thermo-plastic behaviour of the surrounding ground. This paper applies the AVISA-T model within the finite element code Plaxis to simulate a well-instrumented energy pile embedded in multilayered soft soils under thermo-mechanical loading. Following calibration and validation against non-isothermal laboratory tests, the model is used to analyse full-scale in-situ tests under long-term monotonic cooling and different levels of mechanical loading. The results show that AVISA-T reproduces the accumulation of residual strains and stresses along the pile shaft, including irreversible uplift in the unloaded case and dragdown-induced settlements under higher axial load. Comparisons with MCC and AVISA highlight the importance of including thermal plasticity for reliable engineering predictions.

Mouadh Rafai, Merita Tafili, Yuepeng Dong, Philip J. Vardon: Thermo-plastic response of energy piles during long-term monotonic cooling. Computers and Geotechnics, 2026. DOI: 10.1016/j.compgeo.2025.107839