Strength properties of ice–soil composites created by method of cryotropic gel formation

Ice reinforcement

“…Reinforced ice can be several times stronger than natural ice of the same thickness. By incorporating reinforcing materials, such as steel bars or fibers, within the ice structure, the ice gains additional support, leading to increased strength [6,7,8]. These reinforcements help distribute loads more effectively and reduce the risk of failure under applied forces.…”

A Brief History of Polymeric Cryogels

“…The formation mechanisms of PVA cryogels [1,29,[232][233][234][235][236][237] and their applications in various fields have been investigated extensively. These gel materials are used in medicine [1,232,235,[238][239][240][241][242][243][244][245][246][247][248][249][250][251], in biochemistry and biotechnology [1,234,[252][253][254][255][256][257][258][259][260][261][262], in environmental protection [1,263], in construction in the permafrost regions [1,264,265], etc. Such popularity of PVA cryogels is due to the combination of a set of remarkable features they possess, such as excellent physico-mechanical properties, a high thermal endurance compared with other physical hydrogels, a high resistance to abrasive erosion, a macroporosity that ensures good diffusion characteristics, the availability and relatively low cost of PVA itself, and a comparatively simple procedure for the preparation of such cryog...…”

“…PVA formed in mixed solvents [1,20,23,234,264,373], complex PVA cryogels [1,234,239,374], and composite PVA cryogels [1,20,23,29,234,236,237,252,254,265,[375][376][377].…”

Axial compressive behavior of square ice filled steel tubular stub columns

“…Both the compressive and flexural strengths of ice were effectively increased after introducing fiberglass into ice. Nowadays there is a growing interest in the icesoil composites created by the method of cryotropic gel formation (CGF) [25], [26], [27]. In the CGF method, strong hydrogels are formed from an aqueous polymer solution such as PVA; and other hydrogels are formed by means of a freezing and thawing process in which PVA solutions are frozen at −5 to −20 °C and then allowed to thaw at a positive temperature.…”

“…Materials created by CGF method have low permeability, which has been used as a reliable material for building weirs and other hydraulic engineering constructions in cold regions [25]. According to the test results of Vasiliev et al [26], the strength of the ice-soil composites depends on many different factors, including the quality and quantity of PVA used, time of thawing, number of freezing-thawing cycles, soil characteristics, and water content of the soils with gel. Pykrete is another popular form of reinforced ice composites, which is a mixture of sawdust or some other form of wood pulp (such as paper) and ice.…”