Frozen-ground-fem: A practical and open Python 3 package for thermo-hydro-mechanical coupled modelling of soils in cold regions

IF 2.4 4区计算机科学 Q2 COMPUTER SCIENCE, SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

SoftwareX Pub Date : 2025-07-24 DOI:10.1016/j.softx.2025.102280

Anna Pekinasova , Jocelyn L. Hayley , Brandon Karchewski

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

In cold regions, where soils are subjected to recurrent freeze–thaw cycles, frost heave and thaw-induced settlement are among the leading causes of ground deformation and infrastructure failure. This paper presents frozen-ground-fem, an open-source Python 3 package for modelling thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) processes in frozen and thawing soils. The package enables one-dimensional large-strain finite element simulations that capture complex soil behaviours under freeze–thaw cycles, including temperature-dependent hydraulic conductivity, evolving void ratios, residual stresses, and settlement due to thaw consolidation. Designed with modularity and transparency in mind, frozen-ground-fem organizes code around reusable object-oriented classes for materials, elements, meshes, and boundary conditions. It supports thermal, consolidation, and coupled THM simulations using adaptive implicit time integration with iterative correction. The repository includes examples, unit tests, and detailed documentation following NumPy and PEP-8 conventions. Through benchmark scripts and interface design, this package provides a reproducible and extensible platform for researchers and engineers to simulate freeze-thaw soil deformation and assess the resilience of cold-region infrastructure under changing climatic conditions.

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冻土有限元：一个实用和开放的Python 3包，用于寒冷地区土壤的热-水-力学耦合建模

在寒冷地区，土壤经常遭受冻融循环，冻胀和融化引起的沉降是导致地面变形和基础设施破坏的主要原因之一。本文介绍了frozen-ground-fem，这是一个开源的Python 3包，用于模拟冻土和解冻土壤中的热-水-机械（THM）过程。该软件包支持一维大应变有限元模拟，可以捕获冻融循环下复杂的土壤行为，包括温度相关的水力导率、不断变化的空隙比、残余应力和融化固结引起的沉降。在设计时考虑了模块化和透明性，frozen-ground-fem围绕材料、元素、网格和边界条件的可重用面向对象类组织代码。它支持热，巩固和耦合THM模拟使用自适应隐式时间积分与迭代校正。该存储库包括遵循NumPy和PEP-8约定的示例、单元测试和详细文档。通过基准脚本和界面设计，该软件包为研究人员和工程师提供了一个可复制和可扩展的平台，用于模拟冻融土壤变形和评估寒区基础设施在气候条件变化下的恢复能力。

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

SoftwareX COMPUTER SCIENCE, SOFTWARE ENGINEERING-

CiteScore

5.50

自引率

2.90%

发文量

184

审稿时长

9 weeks

期刊介绍： SoftwareX aims to acknowledge the impact of software on today''s research practice, and on new scientific discoveries in almost all research domains. SoftwareX also aims to stress the importance of the software developers who are, in part, responsible for this impact. To this end, SoftwareX aims to support publication of research software in such a way that: The software is given a stamp of scientific relevance, and provided with a peer-reviewed recognition of scientific impact; The software developers are given the credits they deserve; The software is citable, allowing traditional metrics of scientific excellence to apply; The academic career paths of software developers are supported rather than hindered; The software is publicly available for inspection, validation, and re-use. Above all, SoftwareX aims to inform researchers about software applications, tools and libraries with a (proven) potential to impact the process of scientific discovery in various domains. The journal is multidisciplinary and accepts submissions from within and across subject domains such as those represented within the broad thematic areas below: Mathematical and Physical Sciences; Environmental Sciences; Medical and Biological Sciences; Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Originating from these broad thematic areas, the journal also welcomes submissions of software that works in cross cutting thematic areas, such as citizen science, cybersecurity, digital economy, energy, global resource stewardship, health and wellbeing, etcetera. SoftwareX specifically aims to accept submissions representing domain-independent software that may impact more than one research domain.