Tensile strength of frozen soil in the temperature range of the frozen fringe

Abstract

Frost heaving is a discontinuous phenomenon. It starts from rupture in the partially frozen soil called the frozen fringe and then segregation of an ice lens follows in the rupture. Macroscopically, the above-mentioned cycle repeats consistently as soil freezes. The rupture of the frozen fringe should govern the initial conditions of ice lens growth; however, it has not been studied so far. In this paper, the rupture is studied assuming that it has a close relationship with the tensile strength of the frozen fringe. The compressive strength of frozen soil was well-studied in the last century. However, the tensile strength of frozen soil in frozen fringe temperature is discussed along with the unfrozen water content of Dotan and ice tensile strength, and a simplified soil structure model. The tensile strength of the frozen fringe seems to be primarily due to the tensile strength of the pore ice framework.

Laboratory investigation on tensile strength characteristics of warm frozen soils

“…8. And the testing results for frozen soils with warmer temperature are mainly from experimental results on Devon silt from Offensend method (Akagawa and Nishisato, 2009). The tensile strength from Akagawa and Nishisato (2009) has the apparent greater values and the highest slope as the temperature increased.…”

“…Haynes (1978a) researched the tensile strength characteristics of dumbbell Fairbanks silt under various temperatures varying from − 0.1°C to − 56.7°C using the direct tensile method, and the corresponding loading strain rate was designed as 0.0423 cm/s, and the warm frozen soils are concerned in these findings by Haynes. More recently, the development for warm frozen soils were mainly focused on the findings by Akagawa and Nishisato (2009) and Azmatch et al (2011). Akagawa and Nishisato (2009) investigated the tensile strength of Fairbanks silt with special dumbbell shape.…”

“…More recently, the development for warm frozen soils were mainly focused on the findings by Akagawa and Nishisato (2009) and Azmatch et al (2011). Akagawa and Nishisato (2009) investigated the tensile strength of Fairbanks silt with special dumbbell shape. However, the relationship between tensile strength and negative temperature could not be established for the marked experimental data discretization.…”

Failure mechanism of cutting submerged frozen clay in an arctic trenching process

“…The tensile strength increases with decreasing temperature and increasing strain rate. Akagawa and Nishisato (2009) measured the tensile strength of frozen clay at temperatures between -0.3 ºC and -1.3 ºC. They found a tensile strength of about 400 kPa.…”

“…Typically the volumetric unfrozen water content in frozen clay at a temperature of -20 °C is between 5% and 13% (Liu, 2012, Akagawa andNishisato, 2009). Only when the temperature drops under -110°C all the water in clay freezes (Bourbonnais and Ladanyi, 1985).…”