Experimental and Theoretical Studies of the Mechanism of Frost Heaving.

• Main Authors: Chalmers,Bruce, Jackson,Kenneth A.
• Other Authors: HARVARD UNIV CAMBRIDGE MASS DIV OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED PHYSICS
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1970
• Subjects: Soil Mechanics; Civil Engineering; (*FROST HEAVE; THEORY); (*CONSTRUCTION; ARCTIC REGIONS); SOILS; PRESSURE; ICE; INTERFACES; HEAT TRANSFER; FLUID FLOW; DIFFUSION; FREEZING; PERMEABILITY; NUCLEATION; STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES; *COLD WEATHER CONSTRUCTION; Arctic; Chalmers
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0714641; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0714641

The paper discusses the Jackson and Chalmers theory of frost heave and describes attempts to verify it experimentally. The theory takes into account the local thermal conditions in the soil and the permeability of the soil. The theory predicts (or explains) stationary ice lens formation, where there is no advance of the frost line, and also predicts a rate of heave that is independent of the rate of advance of the freezing front. The theory assumes that a soil can be represented by a single characteristic void size although in real cases soils are not as uniform and homogeneous as assumed. Several experiments to verify the theory are described. They were generally unsuccessful, neither disproving nor substantiating the theory. (Author)