Large-scale physical model for simulation of artificial ground freezing with seepage flow

Abstract

High seepage flow velocities represent a potential problem for Artificial Ground Freezing (AGF) because they may hinder the formation of a closed ice body. Due to the complexity of the physical mechanisms involved, numerical thermal and seepage flow analyses are often indispensable for design. The underlying models must be verified against results obtained from appropriate physical simulations. Since information on such results is very limited in the literature, it has been necessary to develop a new large-scale physical model for AGF. All of the relevant material parameters were determined independently from the tests, so the experimental results presented here may serve as a database for the verification of numerical models, especially in the case of 3-D problems.