Experimental Study on the Influence of Different Cooling Rate to Frost Heave of Silty Clay

Abstract

Freezing temperature is one of the main factors of soil frost heave, and different cooling modes will also have an effect on frost heave. To study the influence of stepwise cooling mode to frost heave of silty clay, this paper did the tests of frost heave on the silty clay in stepwise cooling mode and continuous cooling mode respectively, which got versus time of temperature gradient field and frost heave amount in the phenomena of frost heave and frost shrinkage by the two cooling modes. It turns out that stepwise cooling mode will produce greater frost heave and larger frost heave rate, and when frost shrinkage phenomenon occurs, the amount of frost shrinkage is bigger also. Its mechanism lies in the cooling rate with stepwise cooling mode is smaller than that with continuous cooling mode, and it can promote the water migration.