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Special Issue "Research on Rock Mechanics under Freeze-Thaw Action"

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A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Soil and Water".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2023 | Viewed by 3369

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Shibing Huang

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Guest Editor

School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Interests: freeze–thaw damage; fractured rock mass; rock mechanics; multifield coupling; numerical simulation

Dr. Dongdong Ma

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Guest Editor

Department of Civil Engineering, Huainan University of Technology, Huainan, China
Interests: frozen rock; frozen soil; constitutive model; impact load; damage variable; cement soil

Prof. Dr. Xu Li

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Guest Editor

School of Civil and Architectural Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China
Interests: unsaturated flow; frost heave; unsaturated soil; frozen soil; machine learning; geotechnical engineering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The freeze–thaw action of rocks and soils is caused by the water–ice phase transition in pores and cracks. Repeated freeze–thaw cycles damage the physic-mechanical properties of rocks and soils via microscopic pore structure change, macroscopic strength loss and so on. Such mechanisms have induced many engineering geology disasters in cold regions. The degree of freeze–thaw damage is related to coupled multifields at low temperatures. However, the interaction of multifields of rock and soils during the freeze–thaw process is highly complex and not fully understood. In addition, the evaluation of the frost resistance of rocks and soils needs further study. Therefore, providing up-to-date knowledge on the physic-mechanical properties of rocks and soils under freeze–thaw actions is crucial to prevent frost damage and avoid instability in rock engineering. This Special Issue will publish high-quality papers focused on new findings related to the freeze–thaw actions of rocks and soils.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

Physic-mechanical properties of rocks and soils under freeze–thaw actions;
The macro-/microscopic freeze–thaw damage mechanisms;
Engineering geological disasters induced by freeze–thaw action;
Water–ice phase change process in rocks and soils;
Multifield coupling process and numerical simulation of freeze–thaw cycles.

Prof. Dr. Shibing Huang
Dr. Dongdong Ma
Prof. Dr. Xu Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

freeze–thaw damage
water–ice phase
properties of rocks and soils
frost heave
multifield coupling process at low temperatures
frost resistance of geomaterials

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

Open AccessArticle

Freeze–Thaw Cycle Effects on the Energy Dissipation and Strength Characteristics of Alkali Metakaolin-Modified Cement Soil under Impact Loading

Kun Huang

Heng Wang

and

Kai Huang

Water 2023, 15(4), 730; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15040730 - 12 Feb 2023

Viewed by 598

Abstract

To investigate freeze–thaw cycle effects on the energy dissipation and strength characteristics of cement soils under impact loading, impact compression tests were carried out using a split Hopkinson pressure bar on cement soils under various freeze–thaw cycles (0, 1, 3, 6 and 10 times). The Zhu–Wang–Tang (ZWT) model was modified to predict the relationship between deformation and strength in cement soils under various test conditions. The obtained test results revealed that the freeze–thaw cycle number and impact pressure had significant effects on the fractal dimension, strength and absorbed energy of cement soils and there existed a critical freeze–thaw cycle number. It was found that the increase of the freeze–thaw cycle number gradually decreased strength and absorbed energy and increased the fractal dimension. When freeze–thaw cycle number was between 0–6, strength, fractal dimension and absorbed energy were significantly changed. For freeze–thaw cycle numbers greater than 6, the effects of the above factors were gradually alleviated. A modified constitutive model was able to accurately describe cement soil mechanical responses under high strain rate conditions, and the relative error between the predicted and experimental results was in the range of ±7%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Rock Mechanics under Freeze-Thaw Action)

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Open AccessArticle

Study on Pore Structure Evolution Characteristics of Weakly Cemented Sandstone under Freeze–Thaw Based on NMR

and

Water 2023, 15(2), 281; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15020281 - 09 Jan 2023

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Abstract

Taking saturated, weakly cemented sandstone as the research object, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) tests were performed before and after six freeze–thaw cycles without water replenishment in order to study and reveal the evolution characteristics of the pore structure of weakly cemented sandstone under a freeze–thaw cycle. The evolution of pore structure under repeated freeze–thaw cycles was studied using T₂ fractal theory and spectral peak analysis. The results show that the evolution of the pore structure of weakly cemented sandstone can be divided into three stages during the freeze–thaw cycle. In stage 1, the rock skeleton can still significantly restrict frost heave, and the effect of rock pore expansion occurs only on the primary pore scale, primarily in the transformation between adjacent scales. In stage 2, as the restraint effect of the skeleton on frost heave decreases, small-scale secondary pores are gradually produced, pore expansion occurs step by step, and its connectivity is gradually enhanced. In stage 3, as rock pore connectivity improves, the effect of pore internal pressure growth in the freezing process caused by water migration is weakened, making it impossible to break through the skeleton constraint. Thus, it becomes difficult for freezing and thawing to have an obvious expansion effect on the rock pore structure. The strength of the freeze–thaw cycle degradation effect is determined by the effect of the rock skeleton strength under the freeze–thaw cycles and the connectivity of small-scale pores in the rock. The lower the strength of the rock skeleton, the worse the connectivity of pores, and the more obvious the freeze–thaw degradation effect, and vice versa. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Rock Mechanics under Freeze-Thaw Action)

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Open AccessArticle

The Dynamic Compressive Properties and Energy Dissipation Law of Sandstone Subjected to Freeze–Thaw Damage

and

Water 2022, 14(22), 3632; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14223632 - 11 Nov 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 563

Abstract

To investigate the dynamic compressive properties and the law of energy dissipation of freeze–thaw-damaged sandstone, static and dynamic compressive experiments were conducted. The influences of the number of freeze–thaw cycles and strain rate on strength characteristics, energy dissipation rate and the fractal dimension characteristics of sandstone were evaluated. Based on the peak energy dissipation rate, a freeze–thaw damage variable was established. The results show that peak strength increases exponentially with strain rate, and there exists a strain rate threshold. When strain rate is below this threshold, the increasing rate of the DIF slows down with the increase in the number of freeze–thaw cycles; when strain rate is higher than this threshold, the increasing rate of the DIF increases with the increase in the number of freeze–thaw cycles. In addition, the fractal dimension increases with the number of freeze–thaw cycles as well as the strain rate. Based on the freeze–thaw damage variable established, the damage degree of sandstone under freeze–thaw cycling can be characterized. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Rock Mechanics under Freeze-Thaw Action)

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Open AccessArticle

Coupling Effects of Strain Rate and Low Temperature on the Dynamic Mechanical Properties of Frozen Water-Saturated Sandstone

and

Water 2022, 14(21), 3513; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14213513 - 02 Nov 2022

Viewed by 596

Abstract

The mechanical properties of water-rich rocks in a subzero temperature environment are quite different from those at room temperature, which introduces many unexpected engineering hazards. The dynamic compressive behaviors of frozen water-saturated sandstone are related to strain rate and temperature at different degrees. In this paper, quasi-static and dynamic tests were conducted on the saturated sandstone utilizing the MTS-816 apparatus and the modified split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) device with a freezing module, which are constrained at a temperature range of −1 °C~−20 °C and a strain rate range of 10⁻⁵ s⁻¹~200 s⁻¹. The coupling effect of strain rate and temperature on the mechanical characteristics of saturated sandstone is systematically investigated. It is found that the quasi-static compressive strength of frozen saturated sandstone increases with the applied temperature from −1 °C to −5 °C and decreases with that from −5 °C to −20 °C, while the dynamic compressive strength exhibits an opposite trend. Different from the primary shear failure under quasi-static tests, the failure pattern of the frozen specimens becomes tensile failure under dynamic tests with an evident sensitivity to the applied temperature. Furthermore, the dissipated energy can be positively correlated with strain rate, while the growth rate of dissipated energy decreases with the applied temperature from −1 °C to −5 °C and increases with that from −5 °C to −20 °C. A new water-ice phase transition mechanism was further introduced, which divided the freezing process of water-saturated rock into the intensive stage and the stable water-ice phase transition stage. The underlying mechanism of water-ice phase transition governing the dynamic mechanical behavior of frozen saturated sandstone was also revealed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Rock Mechanics under Freeze-Thaw Action)

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