Ice lensing in sandstone walls under monotonic and cyclic climatic conditions

Abstract

A coupled one-dimensional (1D) thermo-mechanical model is developed to explore the ice lens formation in porous building materials, specifically sandstone, under changing climatic conditions. Heat conduction is coupled to an ice lens model to predict the formation and growth of ice lenses with the change of the temperature profile. Simultaneously, changes in the effective properties of the system due to evolving ice lenses are considered for calculating the temperature profile. Monotonic cooling and cyclic climatic conditions are applied to a sandstone wall to investigate the effects of different material parameters and boundary conditions on ice lensing. Triggering conditions for periodic ice lensing are identified. Finally, the periodic evolution of ice lenses (i.e., growing, melting, and re-freezing) is shown in the simulations under cyclic climatic conditions.