Unidirectional freezing experiments under overburden pressure were carried out, in order to study the driving force of moisture migration of remodeled clay during freezing, through improving the indoor moisture migration test device. Overburden pressure and cooling temperature with the same circumstance were changed to determine the influence on water migration of a single factor. Results show that water content increases above the location of the final ice lenses and decreases below the location. When the overburden pressure increases, water intake gradually decreases and the time starting to absorb water is delayed.The location of the final ice lens is not sensitive to overburden pressure but influenced by the temperature boundary. The impact of overburden pressure and maximum temperature is not obvious. Freezing rate is not sensitive to overburden pressure but influenced by temperature, and it increases when the cold temperature decreases. Frost heave and water intake flow increases with increasing time and rises up to a peak value, and then decreases. During the freezing process, water intake flow increases when freezing rate decreases. Water intake flow decreases when the overburden pressure increases when the cold temperature decreases. Finally, we expanded the segregation theory, and proposed a model to describe the relationship between water intake flow and freezing rate.
Salt expansion in sulfate saline soils that are widely distributed in northwestern China causes serious infrastructural damages under low-temperature conditions. However, the mechanism of salt expansion under low temperatures is not clear. In this study, we conducted a series of cooling experiments combined with salt crystallization to study this mechanism, and employed an ionic model to calculate the supersaturation ratio of the solution. During the experiments, the strength and the process of salt expansion were examined under different cooling rates and various crystal morphologies. The relationship between temperature and supersaturation ratio under transient conditions was also considered. Results indicate that the initial supersaturation ratio of a sodium sulfate solution is closely related to environmental conditions, and that this ratio decreases with slowing the cooling rates and stabilizing the crystal forms. Higher initial supersaturation ratios lead to an increased non-steady-state zone, resulting in less salt expansion. On the other hand, chloride ion content has a distinct influence on the crystallization supersaturation ratio of the sodium sulfate solution, and higher chloride ion content can inhibit salt expansion in sodium saline soils. These findings help explain salt expansion mechanisms in complex conditions such as seasonally frozen soils, and thus help search for improved methods of preventing salt expansion in sulfate saline soils.
To study the influence of temperature and water content on ultrasonic wave velocity and to establish the relationship between ultrasonic wave velocity and frozen silty clay strength, ultrasonic tests were conducted to frozen silty clay by using RSM-SY5(T) nonmetal supersonic test meter, and the tensile strength and compressive strength of silty clay were measured under various negative temperatures. Test and analysis results indicate that, ultrasonic wave velocity rapidly changes in the temperature range of 1 °C to 5 °C. Ultrasonic wave velocity increased with an increase of water content until the water content reached the critical water content, while decreased with an increase of water content after the water content exceeded the critical water content. This study showed that there was strong positive correlation between the ultrasonic wave velocity and the frozen soil strength. As ultrasonic wave velocity increased, either tensile strength or compressive strength increased. Based on the experimental data, the relationship between ultrasonic wave velocity and frozen silty clay strength was obtained through regression analysis. It was found that the ultrasonic test technique can be used to test frozen soils and lay the foundation for the determination of frozen soil strength.
