Changes in soil deformation properties during cyclic freezing

This study quantitatively evaluates the combined effects of moisture content, compaction coefficient, and the number of freeze-thaw cycles on the deformation properties of clayey soils. The study was conducted under laboratory conditions. Soil samples with varying moisture contents ranging from 14% to 25% and compaction coefficients from 0.93 to 1.06 were prepared and subjected to varying numbers of freeze-thaw cycles (1–6 cycles). Control samples not subjected to freeze-thaw cycles were also tested. All samples were tested in a compression tester with loads ranging from 0 to 0.6 MPa. Based on the processing and analysis of test reports, dependences of sample deformations on load were obtained for different combinations of initial soil sample properties. It was noted that all the factors considered influence the increase in deformations, and the relationship between deformations and moisture content for all compaction coefficients considered increases with increasing freezing cycles, while the relationship between deformations and compaction coefficients decreases across the entire moisture content range.

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