Effect of particle trapping on frost heaving soils

Abstract

A model of freezing soils is developed that accounts for the dependence of the frost heave rate on particle trapping. At sufficiently low cooling rates the soil experiences primary frost heave with a single growing ice lens that rejects all soil particles. At higher cooling rates ice lenses start to engulf the largest soil particles and the rate of segregation heave is reduced. At the highest freezing rates all particles are engulfed by the ice and the pore water freezes in situ. A new kinetic expression for the segregation potential of the soil is obtained that accounts for particle trapping. Using this expression a simple transient frost heave model is developed and compared with experimental data.