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Thermo-mechanical simulation of frost heave in saturated soils

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Abstract

Roads are exposed to various degradation mechanisms during their lifetime. The pavement deterioration caused by the surrounding environment is particularly severe in winter when the humidity and subfreezing temperatures prevail. Frost heave-induced damage is one of the winter-related pavement deterioration. It occurs when the porewater in the soil is exposed to freezing temperatures. The study of frost heave requires conducting a multiphysics analysis, considering the thermal, mechanical, and hydraulic fields. This paper presents the use of a coupled thermo-mechanical approach to simulate frost heave in saturated soils. A function predicting porosity evolution is implemented to couple the thermal and mechanical field analyses. This function indirectly considers the effect of the water seepage inside the soil. Different frost heave scenarios with uniform and non-uniform boundary conditions are considered to demonstrate the capabilities of the method. The results of the simulations indicate that the thermo-mechanical model captures various processes involved in the frost heave phenomenon, such as water fusion, porosity variation, cryogenic suction force generation, and soil expansion. The characteristics and consequences of each process are determined and discussed separately. Furthermore, the results show that non-uniform thermal boundaries and presence of a culvert inside the soil result in uneven ground surface deformations.

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Acknowledgement

We would like to express our gratitude to the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) for the financial support of this research work (No. TRV 2020/19896).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, 10044, Sweden

    Saeed Vosoughian & Romain Balieu

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  1. Saeed Vosoughian
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  2. Romain Balieu
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Correspondence to Saeed Vosoughian.

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Vosoughian, S., Balieu, R. Thermo-mechanical simulation of frost heave in saturated soils. Front. Struct. Civ. Eng. 17, 1400–1412 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11709-023-0990-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11709-023-0990-x

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