Assessing shear strength degradation of gravel-bearing soil from Northeast Forest Region, China, under freeze–thaw action

IF 3.7 2区工程技术 Q3 ENGINEERING, ENVIRONMENTAL

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment Pub Date : 2025-04-17 DOI:10.1007/s10064-025-04233-y

Yuan Zhou, Mohamed A. Shahin, Can Xu, Yue Xu, Xinchen Yang, Zian Ding, Shufa Sun

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Abstract

Vehicle-induced disturbances pose significant risks to forest soil integrity. This study investigates the effects of gravel content and freeze–thaw (F-T) cycles on the shear strength of layered forest soils obtained from northeastern China. By analyzing the relationship between the shear strength variations and pore structure evolution of layered forest soils, this study provides critical insights into mitigating environmental challenges and maintaining the stability of such soils. Specifically, 216 remolded forest soil samples obtained from two soil layers were collected and tested and the corresponding findings revealed that changes in gravel content and F-T cycles alter the soil pore structure, consequently influencing soil shear strength. The results also indicated that an increase in the gravel content results in a reduction of soil volume in small pore spaces within the investigated forest soils, while the volume of medium and large pore spaces increases. This leads to gravel particles that gradually dominate the soil framework, causing the soil structure to become loose with an increased porosity. The impact of F-T cycles on the forest soil pore structure was found to be particularly pronounced. Notably, the observed trends found in the current study differ from previous studies on other soil types such as farmland and paddy fields. The results of this study help in refining soil engineering design in forested areas and mitigating the compaction impact resulting from forestry machinery interactions with the soil. Furthermore, the results offer vital data that support assessing geological hazard risks and analyzing soil stability in forested regions.

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冻融作用下东北林区含砾土抗剪强度退化评价

车辆引起的干扰对森林土壤完整性构成重大风险。研究了含砾量和冻融循环对东北分层森林土抗剪强度的影响。通过分析层状森林土壤的抗剪强度变化与孔隙结构演化之间的关系，本研究为减轻环境挑战和保持森林土壤的稳定性提供了重要的见解。具体而言，从两个土层中收集并测试了216个重塑森林土样品，相应的研究结果表明，砾石含量和F-T循环的变化改变了土壤的孔隙结构，从而影响了土壤的抗剪强度。结果还表明，随着砂石含量的增加，森林土壤小孔隙空间的土壤体积减小，而中、大孔隙空间的土壤体积增大。这导致砾石颗粒逐渐主导土壤框架，导致土壤结构变得松散，孔隙率增加。温度-温度循环对森林土壤孔隙结构的影响尤为显著。值得注意的是，在目前的研究中发现的观察趋势与之前对其他土壤类型（如农田和水田）的研究不同。本研究结果有助于完善林区土壤工程设计，减轻林业机械与土壤相互作用造成的压实影响。此外，研究结果还为评估森林地区的地质灾害风险和分析土壤稳定性提供了重要数据。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment 工程技术-地球科学综合

CiteScore

7.10

自引率

11.90%

发文量

445

审稿时长

4.1 months

期刊介绍： Engineering geology is defined in the statutes of the IAEG as the science devoted to the investigation, study and solution of engineering and environmental problems which may arise as the result of the interaction between geology and the works or activities of man, as well as of the prediction of and development of measures for the prevention or remediation of geological hazards. Engineering geology embraces: • the applications/implications of the geomorphology, structural geology, and hydrogeological conditions of geological formations; • the characterisation of the mineralogical, physico-geomechanical, chemical and hydraulic properties of all earth materials involved in construction, resource recovery and environmental change; • the assessment of the mechanical and hydrological behaviour of soil and rock masses; • the prediction of changes to the above properties with time; • the determination of the parameters to be considered in the stability analysis of engineering works and earth masses.