Numerical simulation and experimental validation of moisture-heat coupling for saturated frozen soils

Abstract

In seasonally frozen regions, freezing-and-thawing action is the main cause responsible for the destruction of canals, which is closely linked to the temperature gradient and water transport. To investigate the behaviour of soils under freezing-and-thawing actions, many numerical models have been established that consider the important coupling of moisture transport and temperature evolution; but they contain excessive parameters, some of which are rather difficult to determine. Based on the well-known Harlan's theory, a simple moisture-heat coupling model was recently proposed to quantify the coupled moisture-heat transport performance of soils in terms of the central temperature and porosity. The mathematical module of COMSOL Multiphysics was further employed to solve the governing equations numerically. To validate our model, a thorough experimental scheme was carried out in our lab. The measured temperature distribution was found to be consistent with the predicted results.