Description:

Thermo-Mechanical Behavior of Energy Pile Foundations

Abstract:
Over the last decade, an increasing amount of research has been performed to investigate the multiphysical behavior and performance of so-called energy geostructures, i.e., an innovative technology that couples the structural support role of the geostructure to the role of the shallow geothermal heat exchanger. The reason for this is that, in contrast to conventional geostructures, energy geostructures are subjected to the unprecedented combined application of mechanical and thermal loads that causes coupled multiphysical phenomena in the subsurface. This presentation focuses on the thermo-mechanical response of a particular type of energy geostructures: energy piles. The study highlights the need of considering the effects of thermal loads, in addition to those caused by mechanical loads, in the geotechnical, structural and energy analysis and design of the considered technology. The work comments on the breakthrough potential of energy geostructures in the development of smart urban environments and summarizes research questions and problems in the scopes of geomechanics and structural mechanics for energy applications whose solution can crucially contribute to the sustainability of human activity with a limited environmental impact.

Biography:
Dr. Alessandro F. Rotta Loria is a post-doctoral researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, EPFL, and a qualified Professional Civil and Environmental Engineer of the Italian Order of Engineers. He obtained his Ph.D. in Mechanics from the EPFL on December 2017 and his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Building Engineering from the Politecnico di Torino in 2011 and 2013, respectively. His areas of interest are geomechanics and structural mechanics in the context of renewable energy production and storage via innovative multifunctional geotechnical systems for the development of smart urban environments. Over the past five years, Dr. Rotta Loria has been awarded research prizes and honors by international journals and institutions, has co-authored more than ten refereed journal papers and ten refereed conference articles, and has co-supervised fifteen student projects. Dr. Rotta Loria is often involved as a presenter in scientific conferences and as a reviewer for international scientific journals in the fields of geomechanics and energy, and serves as a consultant for engineering and architectural projects.