Experiments on frost heave of artificial frozen soils with different constraints

In order to study on frost heave of artificial frozen soils with different constraints,experiments using frost susceptible silty clay were carried out by 1-D frost heaving test system in free boundary,elastic constraint and rigid constraint respectively.Variations of water contents,water intake,frost heave,frost heaving force were acquired and the dynamical equilibrium between frost heave and the corresponding force was established.The results show that with the increase of damping coefficient,water contents in active zone,water intake,frost heave and the corresponding velocity are all decreased,however,frost heaving force increased.Compare elastic constraint with free boundary condition,frost heave decrease by 19.6%,36.5% and 61.2%,frost heaving force are 0.22,0.36 and 0.96 kN respectively.The dynamical equilibrium between frost heave and the corresponding force is f=4.633 7e-0.312 8h,frost heaving force decreases exponentially with the increase of frost heave.