Effect of Varying Freezing Temperatures on the Dynamic Elastic Modulus of Clays

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4. Effect of Varying Freezing Temperatures on the Dynamic Elastic Modulus of Clays

This study investigates how freezing temperatures affect the dynamic elastic modulus of frozen clays, with significant implications for infrastructure resilience and engineering applications. Understanding soil behavior under dynamic conditions, such as during earthquakes or heavy traffic, is essential for improving infrastructure resilience, especially in cold regions, where freezing significantly alters soil properties, impacting strength and stability. Despite some studies on the dynamic behavior of clays, there is a clear gap in our understanding of the influence of freezing temperatures on the dynamic elastic modulus (E) of clays. For this study, a thermo-hydro-mechanical dynamic triaxial apparatus was employed to study the effect of freezing on the dynamic properties of a Kaolinite clay at temperatures of -1°C, -5°C, and -15°C. The triaxial samples were prepared from a reconstituted bulk sample, consolidated to a vertical stress of 150 kPa, then saturated and further consolidated at 600 kPa before being subjected to their respective freezing temperatures. Dynamic stress-controlled loading was used to derive dynamic elastic modulus curves for the kaolin specimens across different temperatures. The findings show that the dynamic elastic modulus increases as the temperature drops, but this increase reaches a plateau beyond a certain temperature. These findings have practical implications for designing infrastructure and engineering solutions in cold regions.

4th Asia-Pacific Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (ACPMG2024)

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