Determination of Unfrozen Water Content in Frozen Soils by The Acoustic Method

Abstract

Summary Frozen soils are a multi-component system consisting of unfrozen water, ice, gas and solid particles. The unfrozen water content in frozen soils is a key factor that determines their physicochemical and mechanical properties. Currently, several laboratory methods have been developed for determining unfrozen water content in frozen soils: contact, sublimation, calorimetric, nuclear magnetic resonance etc.. All methods take a long experiment time. Researchers have proposed various calculation methods.The research presents experimental studies of assessing unfrozen wanter content by equation with the velocity of longitudinal waves, the contact method and calculation by the formula (State Standart 25.13330.2012). An analysis results shows that most of the currently existing methods for determining unfrozen water are very laborious.The studies have shown that it is possible to use the acoustic method to predict the unfrozen water content (with some errors). But further research and approbation of this method is needed for various types of soils, water content and salinity.