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Investigation on effects of PCM phase change on thermo-mechanical behaviours of phase change energy pipe pile

Author

Listed:
  • Yang, Weibo
  • Zhao, Jiayan
  • Qiao, Tianzheng
  • Wang, Feng

Abstract

To study the effect of phase change of phase-change material (PCM) on the thermo-mechanical (TM) behaviours of phase change energy pipe pile (PCEPP), a model experimental bench is set up to compare the differences in the TM behaviours of the traditional energy pipe pile (TEPP) and PCEPP, and the TM performance of the enhanced PCEPP is experimentally investigated. The outcomes show that in comparison to TEPP, the PCEPP can significantly enhance the heat transfer performance (HTP), slow down the temperature influence on the pile and surrounding soil and reduce the change degree in mechanical properties of pile. The comparative experiments of the three enhancement forms, including enhanced PCM-S, enhanced backfill sand and composite enhancement, reveal that the composite enhancement has the most significant enhancement in HTP, but it also has the greatest influence on the temperature of the pile and soil and the greatest change of the mechanical characteristics of pile. In addition, a 3-D CFD model was constructed to further explore the impact of the PCM backfill form. The findings indicate that for the different layouts of PCM-S, the cylindrical backfill has the best performance in terms of the heat transfer effect and mechanical properties of the pile body. When using radial layered backfill with PCM, the backfill with increasing phase-change temperatures (PCT) from the inside to the outside can increase the long-term HTP of the pile while effectively slowing down the change of the outer wall temperature (OWT) of the pile and minimizing the thermal impact on the soil around the pile.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang, Weibo & Zhao, Jiayan & Qiao, Tianzheng & Wang, Feng, 2026. "Investigation on effects of PCM phase change on thermo-mechanical behaviours of phase change energy pipe pile," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 347(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:347:y:2026:i:c:s036054422600438x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2026.140335
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    References listed on IDEAS

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