Summary: | Construction engineering practices have been a highly sensitive topic regarding the Arctic infrastructure. The limitations of the permafrost behavior impose an analysis from the thermal and mechanical point of view. The positive change in temperature is definitely increasing the active layer thickness, as well as the frost penetration depth during the seasonal variation of the temperature. During the past recorded years, the global climate change made the soil and infrastructure built on it more fragile and more susceptible to the warming of the climate. Considering that the Arctic amplification is a major threat to the Arctic region, in terms of permafrost degradation the soil will create more geotechnical problems, that require practical solutions and knowledge in a dynamic environment. This study focuses on the extension of knowledge and interconnection between the local soil classification, thermal regime of the cast-in-place piles, and the adfreeeze shear strength at the concrete-soil interface. The current area of interest represents the Longyearbyen settlement, located in the Svalbard archipelago. In order to determine the frozen soil characteristics, a series of laboratory tests are carried out at the University Center in Svalbard. By obtaining the soil classification as silty clay (SC) and silty sand (SM), including the stakeholders’ analysis, the Sjoskrenten case study is presented as a discerning point for the objectives of the study. The concrete behavior and soil-concrete bond is evaluated thoroughly for a further connection between the maturity and adfreeze bond variables. It has been observed that the lack of high maturity in the post-cast state of the concrete doesn’t inevitably conclude to a relatively low adfreeze shear strength. Moreover, for the cast-in-place structures, the bonding response happens to have slightly better results than the compared specimens. Furthermore, a recovery bond healing mechanism may be attributed to the roughness of the pile and water content between the ...
|