Effect of Aspect Ratio on the Freezing-Thawing of a Ch Clay

Abstract

The geotechnical properties of fine grained soils which depends on the variation of aspect ratio (ξ=length/diameter) exposed to freezing-thawing is not known clearly. The effect of aspect ratio on unconfined compression strength and freezing-thawing resistance of fine grained soils after 0, 5, 10, and 20 freezing-thawing cycles have been investigated in this study. The freezing-thawing test was conducted in an automatic freezing-thawing cabinet, the freezing and thawing temperatures of which were selected as-20°C and +25°C, respectively. The unconfined compression test was conducted in an unconfined compression testing apparatus, the loading ratio of which was 0.8 mm/min. These values were held constant throughout the test. Tests were conducted on cylindrical samples with different ξ (length/diameter) ratios prepared at standard Proctor energy. The test results indicated that, as ξ ratio decrease and the number of freezing-thawing cycles increase, unconfined compression strength decrease and freezing-thawing grain loss increase.