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Effect of Freeze-Thaw Cycles on Dynamic Characteristics of Undisturbed Silty Clay

  • Geotechnical Engineering
  • Published:
KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering Aims and scope

Abstract

We conducted dynamic triaxial tests of undisturbed soil samples under different control parameters using the Global Digital Systems (GDS) dynamic triaxial instrument. We investigated the dynamic and engineering characteristics of undisturbed soil under a freeze-thaw cycle. When the dynamic load amplitude and the number of freeze-thaw cycles were adjusted, we explored the cumulative plastic strain, dynamic elastic modulus, and dynamic strength of undisturbed soil, and we then proposed appropriate fitting formulae to compute the cumulative plastic strain, dynamic elastic modulus, and dynamic strength. The findings revealed that as the number of freeze-thaw cycles increased, the cumulative plastic strain grew, the dynamic strength progressively fell, and the dynamic elastic modulus dropped first, but then increased. The critical physical and dynamic features of soil changed dramatically during one to six freeze-thaw cycles. This study’s suggested formula for the average growth ratio can directly reflect the cumulative plastic strain fluctuation of soil throughout freeze-thaw cycles. The formula has a good fitting effect on undisturbed soil, according to the test findings, and the accumulative plastic strain, dynamic elastic modulus, and dynamic strength may be computed within a specified range. The findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of the effect of the freeze-thaw cycle on the dynamic characteristics of undisturbed silty clay, as well as a theoretical foundation for the design and construction of silty clay highway subgrade in seasonally frozen regions as well as the dynamic analysis of vehicle simulation in seasonally frozen regions.

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Correspondence to Zhuo Cheng.

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Cui, G.H., Cheng, Z., Zhang, D. et al. Effect of Freeze-Thaw Cycles on Dynamic Characteristics of Undisturbed Silty Clay. KSCE J Civ Eng 26, 3831–3846 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-022-2131-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-022-2131-9

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