A study on impacts of groundwater seepage on artificial freezing process of gravel strata

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to study the impacts of groundwater seepage on artificial freezing process of gravel strata, the temperature field characteristics of the strata, and the strata process, closure time and thickness evolution mechanism of the frozen wall.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper several laboratory model tests were conducted, considering different groundwater seepage rate.FindingsThe results show that there is a significant coupling effect between the cold diffusion of artificial freezing pipes and groundwater seepage; when there is no seepage, temperature fields upstream and downstream of the gravel strata are symmetrically distributed, and the thickness of the frozen soil column/frozen wall is consistent during artificial freezing; groundwater seepage causes significant asymmetry in the temperature fields upstream and downstream of the gravel strata, and the greater the seepage rate, the more obvious the asymmetry; the frozen wall closure time increases linearly with the increase in the groundwater seepage rate, and specifically, the time length under seepage rate of 5.00 m d−1 is 3.2 times longer than that under no seepage; due to the erosion from groundwater seepage, the thickness of the upstream frozen wall decreases linearly with the seepage velocity, while that of the downstream frozen wall increases linearly, resulting in a saddle-shaped frozen wall.Originality/valueThe research results are beneficial to the optimum design and risk control of artificial freezing process in gravel strata.