Temperature Distributions in Geogrid-Reinforced Soil Retaining Walls Subjected to Seasonal Freeze–Thaw Cycles
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 22, Issue 12
Abstract
Geosynthetic-reinforced soil (GRS) retaining walls have been widely adopted in engineering practice based on the development of several design methods. However, the temperature effect, which was proved to be an important influencing factor of retaining wall performance, was not considered in the existing design methods. This study investigates the temperature distributions of a (GRS) wall subjected to freeze–thaw (FT) cycles using (1) a lab-scale physical model test within a custom-made temperature-controlled tank; and (2) a commercial finite-element computer program for conducting numerical modeling. The numerical model was first validated using the lab-scale model test data obtained in this study, and then a full-scale numerical model was created for achieving an in-depth understanding of the temperature distribution behaviors of a real GRS wall subjected to FT cycles. Both model test and numerical results demonstrate that (1) the periodic variation of the ambient temperature during the FT process induces a temperature fluctuation in a sinusoidal shape in the soil, and the temperature distributions of the soil are distinctly related to its location inside the GRS wall; (2) the soil temperature in zones with a distance of 2.0 m to the exposed boundaries (i.e., back of facing panels and road pavement) of the GRS wall is more sensitive to the variation of the ambient temperature. Also, the temperature amplitudes in these regions during each FT cycle are greater than those in the zones far away from the exposed boundaries of the GRS wall; and (3) the frost depth in the vertical direction or frost thickness in the horizontal direction increases constantly with a decrease of the ambient temperature lower than 0°C, and vice versa. The maximum frost depth or thickness behind the GRS wall is lagged to the lowest ambient temperature and decreases with the increase of the distance to the exposed boundaries. In addition, a mathematical model was proposed for predicting the soil temperature amplitudes at different locations inside the GRS wall.
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Acknowledgments
The work presented in this paper was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52078182 and 41877255) and the Tianjin Municipal Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 20JCYBJC00630). This financial support is gratefully acknowledged.
Notation
The following symbols are used in this paper:
- C
- mass heat capacity;
- Cf
- C in a frozen area;
- Cu
- C in an unfrozen area;
- c
- cohesion;
- DH
- distance to the back of the facing blocks;
- DV
- distance to the bottom of a pavement;
- E
- elastic modulus;
- Gs
- specific gravity;
- h
- wall height;
- hg
- laying height of geogrids from the bottom;
- hh
- horizontal frost thickness;
- hv
- vertical frost depth;
- Ip
- plasticity index;
- T
- temperature;
- Tair
- air T;
- Tair,m
- air T in a temperature chamber;
- TFT
- T at an FT interface;
- Tf
- T in a frozen zone;
- TR
- ambient T of a GRS wall considering the solar radiation effect;
- TR,amp
- T amplitude of a GRS wall considering the solar radiation effect;
- TR,ave
- average T of a GRS wall considering the solar radiation effect;
- Ts
- soil T;
- Ts,amp
- Ts amplitude;
- Ts,ave
- average Ts;
- Ts,max
- maximum Ts;
- Ts,min
- minimum Ts;
- TT
- tensile strength of geogrids;
- Tu
- T in an unfrozen zone;
- T0
- initial T;
- t
- elapsed time;
- v
- Poisson’s ratio;
- wi
- ice content per unit volume;
- wL
- liquid limit;
- wP
- plastic limit;
- wopt
- optimum water content;
- x
- distance to the outside surface of facing blocks;
- y
- distance to the bottom of a GRS wall;
- α
- thermal expansion coefficient;
- γdmax
- maximum dry unit weight;
- ΔTs
- Ts fluctuation range;
- ∇T
- average temperature gradient;
- ∇TH
- horizontal average temperature gradient;
- ∇V
- vertical average temperature gradient;
- κ
- coefficient of thermal diffusivity;
- κf
- κ in a frozen zone;
- κu
- κ in an unfrozen zone;
- λ
- thermal conductivity;
- λf
- λ in a frozen zone;
- λu
- λ in an unfrozen zone;
- ρi
- density of ice;
- ϕR
- annual ambient temperature phase shift of a GRS wall considering the solar radiation effect;
- ϕs
- soil temperature phase shift; and
- φ
- internal friction angle.
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Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 22 • Issue 12 • December 2022
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 28, 2022
Accepted: Jun 30, 2022
Published online: Sep 28, 2022
Published in print: Dec 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Feb 28, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Analysis (by type)
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering mechanics
- Geomaterials
- Geosynthetics
- Geotechnical engineering
- Measurement (by type)
- Models (by type)
- Numerical analysis
- Numerical models
- Physical models
- Soil structures
- Structural engineering
- Structural members
- Structural systems
- Structures (by type)
- Temperature (by type)
- Temperature distribution
- Temperature effects
- Temperature measurement
- Thermal properties
- Thermodynamics
- Walls
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Cited by
- L.-Q. Ding, F.-L. Cui, C.-Z. Xiao, Numerical simulation of the performance of GRS walls considering freeze-thaw cycles, Geosynthetics International, 10.1680/jgein.22.00368, (1-18), (2023).
- L. Ding, J. Liu, T. Zhou, C. Xiao, H. Li, Determining performance of two-tiered GRS walls subjected to traffic cyclic loading, Geosynthetics International, 10.1680/jgein.22.00260, (1-18), (2023).