Segregation freezing as the cause of suction force for ice lens formation

Abstract

We propose a new freezing mechanism, called segregation freezing, to explain the generation of the suction force that draws pore water up to the freezing surface of a growing ice lens. We derive the segregation freezing temperature by applying thermodynamics to a soil mechanics concept that distinguishes the mechanically effective pressure from the mechanically neutral pressure. The frost-heaving pressure is formulated as part of the solution of the differential equations of the simultaneous flow of heat and water, of which the segregation freezing temperature is one of the boundary conditions.