scholarly journals Study on the Progressive Deterioration of Tunnel Lining Structures in Cold Regions Experiencing Freeze–Thaw Cycles

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 5903
Author(s):  
Peng Xu ◽  
Yimin Wu ◽  
Le Huang ◽  
Kun Zhang

The linings of tunnels in cold regions with long service lives usually have cracks, with parts of the structure peeling and falling off, which seriously threatens the tunnel safety and operation. The unsaturated freeze–thaw cycle of concrete, which is the main cause of structural deterioration, has not received much research attention. During the service life of tunnels in cold regions, unsaturated freeze–thaw cycles deteriorate the quality of the concrete, and its degree presents a gradual distribution in the circumferential and longitudinal directions. An experiment system was adopted to simulate the distribution of the progressive deterioration of tunnel lining concrete. The test results of the temperature field of the model show the distribution law of freeze–thaw cycles, and the gradual deterioration of the lining concrete was realized. Then, the bearing capacity of the model was tested after the progressive deterioration. The results show that the ultimate load of the model decreases with an increase in the number of freeze–thaw cycles. Finally, a numerical simulation was carried out to discuss the influence of the gradual deterioration of the lining. The gradual deterioration of lining concrete will encourage the gradual development of cracks, leading to serious cracking of the lining structure and even block spalling. Through this study, we hope to provide useful information for the prevention and control of tunnel frost damage in cold regions.

2013 ◽  
Vol 668 ◽  
pp. 65-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heng Shu

The main structure materials of tunnel lining are concrete and steel, and the concrete frost damage is a typical degradation phenomenon of the tunnel linings in cold regions. Alkali-activated slag concrete (ASC) has a better freeze-thaw resistance, which can be used for tunnel lining in severe frigid regions. Freeze-thaw resistance, performance mechanism of ASC and microstructure were investigated by freeze-thaw cycle, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis. The experimental results show that, ASC has excellent freeze-thaw resistance, and hydration products of ASC are mostly C-S-H, alkaline aluminosilicate. ASC has a good compact degree and uniformity of structure, and its high compressive strength also makes high freeze-thaw resistance. ASC may be selected as tunnel lining production materials in severe frigid regions because of the less reduction in the dynamic elastic modulus and mass loss of concrete.


Water ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 236
Author(s):  
Xuebang Huang ◽  
Zizhao Zhang ◽  
Ruihua Hao ◽  
Zezhou Guo

Particle size grading impacts salt-frost heaving and dissolution collapse events of salinized soil on northwestern China’s arid and cold region highways. However, the influencing mechanisms remain unclear and the impact of varying particle size grading needs further investigation. Hence, this study focused on these effects and the number of freeze–thaw cycles on the characteristic changes in highway salinized soil in arid and cold regions. Three soil columns with different gradations were prepared to explore the gradation and the number of freeze–thaw cycle affects on salinized soil’s salt-frost heaving and dissolution collapse characteristics. The multi-functional physical simulation platform conducted multiple freeze–thaw cyclic tests in the laboratory. Test results confirmed significant and conclusive effects of gradation and the number of freeze–thaw cycles on salinized soil’s salt-frost heaving and dissolution collapse behaviors. Poorly graded salinized soil with high coarse particle content caused repeated freeze and thaw engineering hazards, significantly affecting salinized soil’s displacement and deformation behaviors during freezing. Contrarily, an increased range of fine particles more easily involved the characteristics of salinized soil during thawing. Therefore, the fourth freeze–thaw cycle was a crucial time node. After four freeze–thaw cycles, the displacement and deformation of original salinized soil and B-grade salinized soil samples (poorly graded with high fine particle content) tended to be stable. In contrast, the displacement and deformation of A-grade salinized soil samples (poorly graded with high coarse particle content) increased the growth rate. The present research results contribute to in-depth knowledge of the effects of gradation and freeze–thaw cycles on the characteristics of salinized soil in northwestern China, providing excellent referenced data support for the prevention and control of highway salinized soil failures and other engineering projects in arid and cold regions of northwest China.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhijun Zhou ◽  
Haochen Zhan ◽  
Jiangyang Hu ◽  
Chenning Ren

The physicomechanical properties of tunnel surrounding rock are influenced by many factors such as the external environment and freeze-thaw cycles, especially in engineering in high cold regions. To understand the characteristics of freeze-thaw cycles on the creep properties of rocks in high cold regions, a freeze-thaw test, SEM test, triaxial compression test, and triaxial unloading creep test were carried out for tuffaceous sandstone in the G575 East Tianshan Tunnel in Hami, Xinjiang. The results show the following: (1) the freeze-thaw cycle reduces the degree of cementation of mineral particles in a microcosm, manifested on a macro scale by the scaling mode and crack propagation mode; (2) the effect of freeze-thaw cycles reduces the compressive strength and shear strength of rock samples (i.e., ductility enhancement); (3) for tuffaceous sandstone, the unloading process and freeze-thaw cycle each lead to improved creep deformation in rock samples, and radial deformation is more sensitive to rock deformation and failure; and (4) the creep rate of surrounding rock can be reduced by confining pressure. The peak creep rate increased with freeze-thaw time, as did the overall creep rate. Attention should be paid to deformation within a short period, and necessary supporting and protection measures should be taken to reduce creep.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Su-Ran Wang ◽  
You-Liang Chen ◽  
Jing Ni ◽  
Mu-Dan Zhang ◽  
Heng Zhang

The deterioration of the physical and mechanical properties of tonalites subjected to freeze-thaw cycling under three different temperature ranges was explored using several experimental techniques. Uniaxial compression and three-point bending tests were conducted on untreated and treated tonalite specimens. Clear decreases in uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), Young’s modulus, and fracture toughness were observed in tonalite specimens with frost damage. Although Young’s modulus and fracture toughness did not show clear decreases as the minimum temperature of the freeze-thaw cycle decreased from −30°C to −50°C, the UCS decreased almost linearly. The macromechanical characteristics of the tonalites can be explained by changes in mineral content and microstructure. The intensity of X-ray diffraction (XRD) peaks of minerals in tonalites that had not been freeze-thaw cycled were approximately 10 to 20 times higher than the peaks for the specimens subjected to freeze-thaw cycling, implying that the internal structure of tonalite is less compact after frost damage. The microstructures of the tonalite specimens were also examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Increased amounts of fragmentation and breaking of structural planes were observed as the minimum temperature of the freeze-thaw cycle decreased.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1015 ◽  
pp. 105-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
An Ping Zhao ◽  
Ai Ping Tang ◽  
Jing Sun ◽  
Xue Mei Yu

Roadbed filling undergo at least one freeze-thaw cycle every year in seasonal frozen soil areas, which will lead subgrade to boiling, settlement, strength weakening etc. and has a strong impact on traffic safety and smooth, need to be solved urgently . In recent years, cement improved soil is applied to dissolve frost damage because it can be obtained locally, and has high performance and low price. However, how to evaluate strength of cement soil under repeated freeze-thaw cycles is the key to its further application in those regions. In the paper, the cement improved silty clay is selected as the object which is most common in Heilongjiang roadbed, many groups of freeze-thaw tests and direct shear tests are conducted at different conditions. From these tests, some conclusions about shear strength index and are obtained: 1. the first freeze-thaw cycle has important effect on cohesion of cement soil, during freeze-thaw cycle, the lower temperature is, the faster is decreasing. 2. decreases with freeze-thaw cycles increase, and there is a peak value existing after the seventh cycle, then reduce rapidly. 3. the internal friction angle appears decreasing – increasing–reducing– increasing trend during cycles but the range of change is little. 4. reduces smaller and increases more when temperature is lower.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Longxiao Chen ◽  
Kesheng Li ◽  
Guilei Song ◽  
Deng Zhang ◽  
Chuanxiao Liu

AbstractRock deterioration under freeze–thaw cycles is a concern for in-service tunnel in cold regions. Previous studies focused on the change of rock mechanical properties under unidirectional stress, but the natural rock mass is under three dimensional stresses. This paper investigates influences of the number of freeze–thaw cycle on sandstone under low confining pressure. Twelve sandstone samples were tested subjected to triaxial compression. Additionally, the damage characteristics of sandstone internal microstructure were obtained by using acoustic emission (AE) and mercury intrusion porosimetry. Results indicated that the mechanical properties of sandstone were significantly reduced by freeze–thaw effect. Sandstone’ peak strength and elastic modulus were 7.28–37.96% and 6.38–40.87% less than for the control, respectively. The proportion of super-large pore and large pore in sandstone increased by 19.53–81.19%. We attributed the reduced sandstone’ mechanical properties to the degenerated sandstone microstructure, which, in turn, was associated with increased sandstone macropores. The macroscopic failure pattern of sandstone changed from splitting failure to shear failure with an increasing of freeze–thaw cycles. Moreover, the activity of AE signal increased at each stage, and the cumulative ringing count also showed upward trend with the increase of freeze–thaw number.


2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 954-967
Author(s):  
Jie-lin Li ◽  
Long-yin Zhu ◽  
Ke-ping Zhou ◽  
Hui Chen ◽  
Le Gao ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huren Rong ◽  
Jingyu Gu ◽  
Miren Rong ◽  
Hong Liu ◽  
Jiayao Zhang ◽  
...  

In order to study the damage characteristics of the yellow sandstone containing pores under the freeze-thaw cycle, the uniaxial compression test of saturated water-stained yellow sandstones with different freeze-thaw cycles was carried out by rock servo press, the microstructure was qualitatively analyzed by Zeiss 508 stereo microscope, and the microdamage mechanism was quantitatively studied by using specific surface area and pore size analyzer. The mechanism of weakening mechanical properties of single-hole yellow sandstone was expounded from the perspective of microstructure. The results show the following. (1) The number of freeze-thaw cycles and single-pore diameter have significant effects on the strength and elastic modulus of the yellow sandstone; the more the freeze-thaw cycles and the larger the pore size, the lower the strength of the yellow sandstone. (2) The damage modes of the yellow sandstone containing pores under the freeze-thaw cycle are divided into five types, and the yellow sandstone with pores is divided into two areas: the periphery of the hole and the distance from the hole; as the number of freeze-thaw cycles increases, different regions show different microscopic damage patterns. (3) The damage degree of yellow sandstone is different with freeze-thaw cycle and pore size. Freeze-thaw not only affects the mechanical properties of yellow sandstone but also accelerates the damage process of pores. (4) The damage of the yellow sandstone by freeze-thaw is logarithmic function, and the damage of the yellow sandstone is a power function. The damage equation of the yellow sandstone with pores under the freezing and thawing is a log-power function nonlinear change law and presents a good correlation.


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