Investigation of effects of temperature cycles on soil-concrete interface behavior using direct shear tests

The intermittent operation of the ground source heat pump connected to thermo-active geo-structures (e.g. energy piles) results in cyclic thermal loading on the soil-structure interface. To investigate the effects of cyclic thermal loading on soil-structure interface properties, a conventional direct shear device was modified by replacing the bottom shear box with a concrete plate (with smooth and rough surfaces) that has embedded aluminum tubes to heat and cool the interface. A series of tests were performed with interface temperatures of 4.5, 22.5, and 42.5 degrees C, respectively. The constant normal stresses of the direct shear tests were 27.6, 41.4, and 100 kPa. The tests were conducted both under cooling and heating conditions with thermal cycle numbers of 0.5 and 10.5. The tests were conducted at a shearing rate of 3 mm/min. The effects of water content changes on the shear strength of soil-concrete interface was also investigated by performing tests with soil water content ranging from 15% to 19%. The responses of soil-concrete interface subjected to temperature change and cycles and different water contents are presented in this paper. (C) 2019 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The Japanese Geotechnical Society.