Probabilistic design model for energy piles considering soil spatial variability

Abstract

Energy piles are sustainable green foundations. Although several geotechnical design methods have been proposed, no methods have yet been developed to quantify the uncertainty propagation in thermo-mechanical pile-soil interactions. The probabilistic model proposed in this paper, which is based on load-transfer curves, considers the effects of spatial variability for energy pile design. The developed random finite difference method is used to address the effects of vertical spatial variability on the ultimate limit state design and serviceability limit state design. This study points to the necessity of modeling the soil spatial variability in the thermo-mechanical pile-soil interactions in energy piles.