Modeling Wicking Fabric Inhibition Effect on Frost Heave

Abstract

The deterioration of roads in cold regions can result in unsafe driving conditions and high maintenance costs. Frost heaving is regarded as one of the main reasons for road degradation. Generally, frost heave is caused by water migrating from the unfrozen zone to the freezing front, where it is then transformed into an ice lens. Frost heave can be reduced by removing frost-susceptible soil, raising the temperature, or removing water from the soil. Among these methods, the most economical and practical approach is to reduce the water content. Recently, an innovative geotextile known as wicking fabric (WF) has been used to drain water from unsaturated conditions and minimize frost heaving. The objective of this study was to evaluate the inhibition effects of WF on frost heave under different experimental conditions in the freezing process. In this study, a thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) coupled numerical model is proposed to simulate the freezing process of subgrade soil with WF. The evaporation model is used to simply describe the water absorption characteristics of WF. The numerical model was validated by comparing the simulation results with the experimental results of the wicking fabric model (WWF) and the non-wicking fabric model (NWF). Additionally, parametric analysis was conducted to examine the effectiveness of WF in reducing frost heave under various experimental conditions. As a result, the freezing process of soil installed with WF was accurately simulated by the proposed model. WF showed inhibition effects on frost heave under various experimental conditions. The results indicate the following: (1) Compared to Touryo soil (a high frost-susceptible clay-sand soil), WF inhibited frost heave more effectively in Tomakomai soil (a medium frost-susceptible lean clay), while the inhibition effect of WF in Fujinomori soil (a medium frost-susceptible lean clay) was limited. (2) WF has a more significant frost heave inhibition effect at a slower cooling rate in the freezing process. (3) The further the WF is installed from the groundwater level (GWL), the greater its impact on inhibiting frost heave.

A Multiphysics Simulation of the Effects of Wicking Geotextile on Mitigating Frost Heave under Cold Region Pavement

“…In the cross-plane direction, the geotextile impedes upward movement of capillary water, protecting the overlying base course. In the in-plane direction, wicking geotextile absorbs Geosciences 2024, 14, 34 2 of 16 both free and capillary water from surrounding soils and laterally transports it to the extended end [11]. Laboratory tests have affirmed the superior drainage capabilities of wicking geotextiles in reducing soil water content [12][13][14][15].…”

“…In practical engineering applications, geotextiles are typically installed within or at the base course bottom, extending to road slope surfaces [10]. The extended geotextile ends are exposed to the air to facilitate water evaporation, enhancing the driving force for drainage.…”

“…The detrimental effects of soil freeze-thaw cycles on pavement, a complex multiphysics process of water transfer and phase transition, are pronounced in cold regions and contribute significantly to pavement damages [11,[17][18][19]. Under freezing temperature, frost heave occurs in soil due to the growth of ice lens and volume expansion of water turning into ice [20], resulting in cracks and uneven surfaces.…”

“…Numerical modeling serves as an effective tool for evaluating the interacted variations of moisture, heat, and stress-strain in unfrozen and frozen soils. While several models have been proposed to investigate these coupled processes, classifiable into thermalhydro [26][27][28][29][30] models and thermal-hydro-mechanical [31][32][33][34] models, research integrating wicking geotextile within multiphysics models remains scarce [10]. This study introduces an advanced coupling model that assimilates various environmental dynamics, including meteorological, geothermal, and hydrological factors, and incorporates wicking geotextile to assess its impact on pavement under diverse environmental conditions.…”

Holistic multiphysics simulation of the climatic responses of cold region pavements

“…Extensive research has been conducted to investigate the detrimental environmental effects on geo-infrastructure in cold regions, encompassing slope diseases (Zhan et al, 2018;Jiang et al, 2022;Ishikawa et al, 2015 ;, the loss of bearing capacity (Suter et al, 2019;Plotnikov & Merzlyakov, 2021;Filimonov et al, 2022), damage to embankments (Maadani et al, 2021;Tai et al, 2020;Song et al, 2020), deterioration of pavements (Ud Din et al, 2020;Qiao et al, 2020;Zhuo et al, 2022;Dong et al, 2022;Wu et al, 2022), and buckling and breakage of pipelines (He & Jin, 2010;Oswell, 2011;H. Li et al, 2019;X.…”