Hi! This is a bit more of a ‘building-physics’ question than software-related, but I wonder if maybe anyone has any suggestions on the right approach to answer this question:
Question:
Given a slab-on-grade foundation in a known climate (New York, USA), and with a proposed insulation detail, what would the suggested method be to determine the location of the frost-line under the building, and specifically to assess the proposed detail for risk of frost-heave damage?
What I Considered:
I initially looked at this detail using a 2D heat-flow simulation following the ISO-10211 protocol for footings, but I am thinking that this static analysis method is not really appropriate for capturing the real performance of the soil, given its heat storage capacity?
I know that tools like Kiva can also be used to model soil temperature in EnergyPlus simulations, but that also doesn’t sound quite like the right tool for this question either?
So: does anyone have a suggestion for a methodology or software setup to assess a question like this? Has anyone every tried to model something like this before? Any thoughts or suggestions are much appreciated as always!
best,
@edpmay