Effect of temperature on the mechanical properties of fine-grained soils - A review

Abstract

Contemporary geotechnical engineering practice encompasses design and construction of thermo-active geo-structures or structures which would encounter thermal cycles throughout its service life. Therefore, understanding the effect of temperature on soil mechanical properties becomes inevitable. Being a complex and coupled phenomenon it has been quite challenging for the researchers to study experimentally and theoretically the thermo-mechanical behaviour of fine-grained soil. Nonetheless, there are numerous studies which contribute significantly to gain insight about thermo-mechanical behaviour of soils. Incidentally, till date, on this arena of research, no comprehensive review, which provides a holistic development of the subject and its connection with the field application, is available. The prime objective of the present study is to critically appraise the state-of-the-art understanding on thermo-mechanical behaviour of fine-grained soils through a comprehensive literature review. Moreover, this paper also describes the concept of thermo-elasto-plastic strain and thermal creep behaviour of fine-grained soils.