Abstract
The loess landslide in Gaoling District of Xi’an, Shaanxi in China is closely related to the seasonal freeze–thaw cycle, which is manifested by the destruction of pore structure and strength deterioration of the loess body under freeze–thaw conditions. In order to study the relationship between macro-strength damage and pore structure deterioration of saturated loess under freeze–thaw conditions and its influence on the stability of landslides, this paper explores the effect of freeze–thaw cycles on the strength of saturated undisturbed loess through triaxial compression test, and explores the micro-microstructure changes of saturated undisturbed loess through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). This is to analyze the evolution of the pore structure and strength loss evolution of saturated loess during the freeze–thaw process, and to describe the freeze–thaw damage of saturated undisturbed loess through the change of porosity and strength deterioration. Then, the internal correlation expression between the porosity change and the strength degradation is established to realize the verification analysis of the test data based on the correlation model. The research results show that: (1) As the number of freeze–thaw cycles increases, the peak strength loss rate gradually increases, and the strength deterioration of saturated loess becomes more and more obvious. (2) The freeze–thaw cycle will lead to the development of pores and cracks in the sample, accompanied by the generation of new cracks, which will cause the deterioration of the pore structure of the sample as a whole. (3) The response of strength damage and porosity deterioration of saturated undisturbed loess is roughly similar under the freeze–thaw cycle. The change in porosity can be measured to better reflect the strength deterioration of saturated loess. Therefore, the change of pore structure of undisturbed loess under freeze–thaw cycle conditions is tested by field sampling and indoor tests to reflect the phenomenon of strength deterioration, thereby analyzing the stability of loess slopes.
Highlights
Loess is characterized by looseness, porosity, and easy water seepage
The freeze–thaw cycle is part of the main factors that cause the deterioration of the physical and
This paper considers predicting the change in strength with a relatively easy to measureporosity
Summary
Loess is characterized by looseness, porosity, and easy water seepage. It is eroded by flowing water to form gullies, which can cause subsidence and collapse [1,2,3,4]. Due to the special geographical location and climatic conditions, the annual temperature difference is large about 35 ◦ C forming a seasonal frozen soil area with regional characteristics. The region lies in a process of freezing and melting cycles all the year round, and is sensitive to thermal disturbances in the external environment [5]. The freeze–thaw cycle is part of the main factors that cause the deterioration of the physical and
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