Frost susceptibility related to soil index properties

1999 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Marie Konrad

The analysis of frost-heave data on several soils confirmed that segregation potential, hence frost susceptibility, of saturated soils was best related to the average size of the fines fraction, the specific surface area of the fines fraction, and the ratio of the material's water content to its liquid limit. The influence of overburden pressure can also be accounted for by an empirical relationship between the segregation potential, the average size of the fines fraction, and the compressibility index of the soil. The segregation potential was also proportional to the relative fines content in soils where the fines do not completely fill the voids of the coarser fraction. This study led to the development of a new frost-susceptibility assessment methodology based on simple geotechnical routine soil index testing that was validated on a highway site on frost-susceptible subgrade till.Key words: frost heave, index properties, criteria, soil, segregation potential.


2005 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Marie Konrad

The frost heave response of quarry fines from several locations in the Province of Quebec was studied in the laboratory using one-dimensional step-freezing tests with free access to water. Comparison of the segregation potential values obtained from these tests with available data on fine-grained soils revealed the importance of including clay mineralogy and overburden effects in any predictive empirical relationship, especially when fines are nonclays. A new approach is presented to estimate segregation potential values using the frost heave response of two reference soils. The reference characteristics consist of a relationship between segregation potential at zero overburden pressure, specific surface area, and average grain size of the fines fraction for two artificial soil mixtures in which the clay mineral is poorly crystallized kaolinite. The prediction of segregation potential values using the reference frost heave characteristics approach is more robust and reliable than other empirical approaches that do not specifically distinguish between clay and nonclay fines. Furthermore, the new approach was also efficient for the assessment of frost susceptibility of well-graded glacial tills.Key words: fine grained, soil, mineralogy, laboratory, fines, clay, nonclay.



1991 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 843-859 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. (Derick) Nixon

The existing segregation potential (SP) method for frost heave prediction in soils is semiempirical in nature and does not explicitly predict the relationship between heave rate, temperature gradient, and other more fundamental soil properties. The SP method assumes that the heave rate is directly related to the temperature gradient at the frost front but acknowledges that the SP parameter is dependent on pressure, suction at the frost front, cooling rate, soil type, and so forth. This paper extends and modifies an approximate analytical technique of Gilpin and accounts for the effects of distributed phase change within the freezing fringe in both the head- and mass-transfer components of the formulation. The approach requires as input a relationship between frozen hydraulic conductivity and temperature and predicts the discrete location of each ice lens within the freezing soil. The solution can be carried out quickly on a microcomputer to obtain the heave, suction at the frost front, ice lens temperature, and other results of interest with time. Furthermore, the discrete ice lens method predicts the effects of changing overburden pressure on the predicted heave rate. A method of extracting input parameters for the discrete ice lens procedure from a series of frost heave tests is proposed. The discrete ice theory has been tested and calibrated against well-documented frost heave test results in the literature, and very encouraging agreement between prediction and observation has been obtained. Key words: frost heave, discrete ice lens, segregation potential, hydraulic conductivity of frozen soil, freezing soil.



2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazile Ural

AbstractIn this study, the relationships between geotechnical index properties and the pore-size distribution of compacted natural silt and artificial soil mixtures, namely, silt with two different clays and three different clay percentages (10%, 20%, and 40%), were examined and compared. Atterberg’s limit tests, standard compaction tests, mercury intrusion porosimetry, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface analysis were conducted. The results show that the liquid limit, the cumulative pore volume, and specific surface area of artificially mixed soils increase with an increase in the percentage of clay. The cumulative pore volume and specific surface area with geotechnical index properties were compared. High correlation coefficients were observed between the specific areas and both the liquid limit and the plasticity index, as well as between the cumulative pore volume and both the clay percentage and the



2000 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 712-722 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Sridharan ◽  
H B Nagaraj

Correlating engineering properties with index properties has assumed greater significance in the recent past in the field of geotechnical engineering. Although attempts have been made in the past to correlate compressibility with various index properties individually, all the properties affecting compressibility behaviour have not been considered together in any single study to examine which index property of the soil correlates best with compressibility behaviour, especially within a set of test results. In the present study, 10 soils covering a sufficiently wide range of liquid limit, plastic limit, and shrinkage limit were selected and conventional consolidation tests were carried out starting with their initial water contents almost equal to their respective liquid limits. The compressibility behaviour is vastly different for pairs of soils having nearly the same liquid limit, but different plasticity characteristics. The relationship between void ratio and consolidation pressure is more closely related to the shrinkage index (shrinkage index = liquid limit - shrinkage limit) than to the plasticity index. Wide variations are seen with the liquid limit. For the soils investigated, the compression index relates better with the shrinkage index than with the plasticity index or liquid limit.Key words: Atterberg limits, classification, clays, compressibility, laboratory tests.



Author(s):  
Yan Di ◽  
Jian Shuai ◽  
Lingzhen Kong ◽  
Xiayi Zhou

Frost heave must be considered in cases where pipelines are laid in permafrost in order to protect the pipelines from overstress and to maintain the safe operation. In this paper, a finite element model for stress/strain analysis in a pipeline subjected to differential frost heave was presented, in which the amount of frost heave is calculated using a segregation potential model and considering creep effects of the frozen soil. In addition, a computational method for the temperature field around a pipeline was proposed so that the frozen depth and temperature variation gradient could be obtained. Using the procedure proposed in this paper, stress/strain can be calculated according to the temperature on the surface of soil and in a pipeline. The result shows the characteristics of deformation and loading of a pipeline subjected to differential frost heave. In general, the methods and results in this paper can provide a reference for the design, construction and operation of pipelines in permafrost areas.



2018 ◽  
Vol 65 ◽  
pp. 06004
Author(s):  
Kok Shien Ng ◽  
Yee Ming Chew ◽  
Nur Izzati Ahmad Lazim

Compression index and coefficient of consolidation are two most important parameters in obtaining the consolidation characteristics of cohesive soil. Considerable time and effort are required to obtain these parameters from the oedometer test. Therefore, this study aims to correlate these two parameters with the index properties. Five remoulded samples are tested for their physical properties as well as their consolidation characteristics. The results show good relationship was obtained for the liquid limit and the compression index while the coefficient of consolidation is best correlated with the plastic limit. Multiple regression analysis was performed to improve the prediction. Liquid limit is best coupled with specific gravity to estimate the compression index while plastic limit and plastic index can be used to best predict the coefficient of consolidation.



1977 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne D. Arvidson ◽  
Norbert R. Morgenstern

A study to observe the effects of overburden pressure and other parameters on the freezing behavior of a saturated soil was undertaken. A linear relationship between effective overburden pressure and the flow of water into or out of a freezing soil was observed. The effective pressure at which no flow occurred was termed the shutoff pressure. At pressures less than the shutoff pressure water was sucked to the freezing front resulting in segregated ice, ice lensing, and heaving. This heaving could significantly exceed the heave due to the volumetric expansion of the in situ porewater. At pressures greater than the shutoff pressure water was expelled from the freezing front thereby reducing the volume of in situ water and resulting in a relatively small amount of heave. Shutoff pressure was observed to depend on soil type, stress history, and freezing temperature. The effects of overburden pressure upon flow of water in a freezing soil and frost heave were recommended as additional criteria for assessing soil frost susceptibility.



1988 ◽  
pp. 253-259
Author(s):  
Makoto FUKUDA ◽  
Shoji OGAWA ◽  
Takeshi KAMEI


1994 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-M. Konrad ◽  
J.T.C. Seto

Undisturbed Champlain Sea clay samples were subjected to laboratory freezing tests with pore-pressure measurements in order to determine the freezing characteristics of a structured compressible soil. Step-freezing and ramped-freezing tests with applied back pressure were conducted on 10 cm high samples in open-system conditions. Significant pore-pressure reductions in the unfrozen soil induce important frost-induced consolidation and destructuration of the clay. It was found that the freezing characteristics of Saint-Alban clay are best defined by the segregation potential at the active ice lens, SPℓ, which includes water fluxes generated within the frozen fringe and within the unfrozen soil as excess water is expelled during consolidation, and finally water from an external source. For the Saint-Alban clay, SPℓ values of the intact clay ranged between 450 and 600 × 10−5 mm2/(s °C), whereas those of destructured clay at a lower void ratio were significantly smaller. Back-calculating the segregation potential solely from surface heave measurements in laboratory tests may underestimate considerably the frost susceptibility of compressible structured clays. Segregation potential inferred from instrumented field sites was 430 × 10−5 mm2/(s °C) and is consistent with the laboratory tests results. Key words : freezing, frost heave, structured clay, undisturbed, consolidation.



1982 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 526-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. Nixon

The Konrad–Morgenstern theory of frost heave using the segregation potential concept is briefly outlined, and the method of predicting frost heave under field conditions is reviewed. A recent paper by Nixon et al. describes the operation and results from two circular frost heave test plates installed at the Foothills Pipe Lines test facility in Calgary. The frost heave theory using the segregation potential approach has been applied in its simplest form to predict the frost heave beneath these test plates and the agreement is found to be very good. Current geothermal modelling, coupled with the Konrad–Morgenstern theory of frost heave, appears to be capable of reasonable predictions of frost heave in fine-grained soils under practical engineering conditions.



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