Experimental study of the hydro-thermal characteristics and frost heave behavior of a saturated silt within a closed freezing system

Abstract

Frost heave behavior during soil freezing process is an important issue of concern in cold regions, which is influenced by the hydro-thermal characteristics including the freezing point and water migration. The frost heave is caused by the freeze of water from different sources, i.e. pristine water, migrated water or both; however, it is difficult to identify the contributions of the different water sources to the frost heave, especially for a closed freezing system. Therefore, the calculation method to evaluate the frost heave induced by different water sources still need to be developed. Definitely, freezing experiments under controlled laboratory conditions can help to give a detailed description of the soil freezing process. Therefore, a large-scale one-directional freezing experiment within a closed system was carried out to investigate the hydro-thermal characteristics and frost heave behavior of a saturated silt. The research results showed the effect of the hydro-thermal behavior on the frost heave of the silt within a closed freezing system, and a calculation method was presented to evaluate the frost heaves from pristine water and migrated water, respectively.