Cold Regions Science and Technology最新文献

{"title":"Experimental study on dynamic elastic modulus of thawing subgrade sandy loam soil under vibration load","authors":"Wenshao Xin ,&nbsp;A.V. Petriaev ,&nbsp;Jiankun Liu ,&nbsp;Maria Chetina","doi":"10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104688","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104688","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Railway construction in the Arctic sandy loam region of the Russian Federation is developing continuously. Due to global warming, permafrost degradation is inevitable. Thawing of permafrost will inevitably reduce the deformation resistance of the subgrade, affecting the safety of railway operation. The soil's dynamic elastic modulus (<em>E</em>_<em>d</em>) is the most important factor in studying the dynamic response of subgrade under train loads. Based on dynamic triaxial tests, the research deals with the change regularities in the <em>E</em>_<em>d</em> of thawing sandy loam soils under different conditions of temperature, water content, confining pressure and loading frequency. The regression function of the thawing sandy loam soil <em>E</em>_<em>d</em> under various single factors was constructed. Based on the correlation assessing rule, a multivariate linear regression function between thawing sandy loam soil <em>E</em>_<em>d</em> and multiple factors was established. The prediction error of this function ranges from −8.33 % to 7.14 %. The results show that water content has the greatest influence on the <em>E</em>_<em>d</em> of thawing sandy loam soil, and its influence weight coefficient is 51.07 %, followed by loading frequency, temperature and confining pressure. Based on Pearson correlation coefficient and Spearman rank correlation coefficient, it can be seen that temperature and water content are negatively correlated with the <em>E</em>_<em>d</em>, while confining pressure and loading frequency are positively correlated with the <em>E</em>_<em>d</em>. In general, the proposed prediction model can effectively solve the non-linear problem between the <em>E</em>_<em>d</em> of thawing sandy loam soil and the influencing factors, thus providing valuable support material for studying dynamic response of subgrades operating in permafrost areas during thawing period.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10522,"journal":{"name":"Cold Regions Science and Technology","volume":"241 ","pages":"Article 104688"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145096226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of volume fraction and morphology of particles on the dynamic compressive strength of ice-silica particle mixtures","authors":"Shruti Pandey,&nbsp;Ishan Sharma,&nbsp;Venkitanarayanan Parameswaran","doi":"10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104685","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104685","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We investigate the compressive strength at high strain-rates of ice-silica particle mixtures with varying silica content. For this, we modify the split-Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) for low-temperature applications. Ice-silica particle mixtures with 4%, 8%, 12%, and 20% silica by volume are prepared by mixing crushed polycrystalline ice and silica particles. We have also probed the effect of particle shape by carrying out tests on ice-silica particle mixtures prepared using randomly-shaped, natural sand particles obtained from a local river basin, and spherical glass silica particles. The samples are tested at temperatures between 0 °C and −1 °C. We find that the dynamic strength of the ice-silica particle mixture initially remains unaffected at a lower volume percentage of silica and then shows an increase.</div><div>Ice-silica particle mixtures with glass beads, which exhibit greater overall regularity, exhibit lower strength enhancement compared to those prepared using the more irregular river sand particles for the same volume percentage. Based on our experimental results, we propose an empirical model that predicts the dynamic compressive strength of ice-silica particle mixtures, considering the varying volume fraction of silica particles and their morphology.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10522,"journal":{"name":"Cold Regions Science and Technology","volume":"241 ","pages":"Article 104685"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145096227","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Creep behaviors of artificial freezing columnar ice prepared in successive high-pressure state","authors":"Chenyi Zhang ,&nbsp;Tingting Luo ,&nbsp;Tao Han ,&nbsp;Haipeng Li ,&nbsp;B.N. Madhusudhan ,&nbsp;Jiajun Ji ,&nbsp;Yu Zhang ,&nbsp;Weihao Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104684","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104684","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In cold regions and artificial ground freezing engineering applications, ice is commonly formed within confined environments. Insufficient understanding of the creep deformation characteristics of such ice may lead to miscalculation of long-term deformation. Nevertheless, significant research gaps persist concerning the effects of freezing pressure on ice creep mechanisms. This study systematically investigates the influence of creep stress, temperature, confining pressure, and freezing pressure on the creep behaviors of confined pressure-frozen ice. It is revealed that the creep deformation of pressure-frozen ice primarily follows a dislocation creep mechanism, with a slightly elevated stress exponent (<em>n</em> = 3.41 ± 0.31) and creep activation energy (<em>Q</em> = 108 ± 18 kJ/mol). The minimum creep rate initially decreases and then increases as confining pressure and freezing pressure rise. Confining pressure exerts its influence through competition between the pressure melting mechanism and dislocation motion restriction, and freezing pressure dictates the initial dislocation density in pressure-frozen ice. With the freezing pressure being increased from 0.1 MPa to 10 MPa and then to 30 MPa, a 61.87 % reduction and a 15.79 % increase in the minimum creep rate are observed. Based on experimental findings and the Andrade creep model, a creep model accounting for freezing pressure and confining pressure factors is established along the columnar crystal direction. The study aims to provide valuable insights for predicting ice creep deformation in both polar glaciers and artificial ground freezing projects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10522,"journal":{"name":"Cold Regions Science and Technology","volume":"241 ","pages":"Article 104684"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145096228","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Research on the dynamic softening deformation characteristics and pore-water pressure response of warm frozen soil","authors":"Hu Zhang ,&nbsp;Lijun Xing ,&nbsp;Bo Zheng ,&nbsp;Jintao Hu ,&nbsp;Jun Zhao ,&nbsp;Lang Dai ,&nbsp;Zheng Li ,&nbsp;Feng Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104680","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104680","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Traffic- induced dynamic loads can destabilize frozen soil foundations, leading to various engineering problems. Compared to static loads, dynamic loads cause greater deformation and induce a softening effect that reduces the soil's resistance. This study conducted triaxial compression tests under both dynamic and static loads to compare how different temperatures, stress amplitude, and dry densities affect deformation behavior, internal temperature evolution, and pore-water pressure (PWP) response. Furthermore, orthogonal experimental design was employed to investigate the interaction effects between stress and temperature. The results indicate that axial strain and PWP respond similarly under both dynamic and static loads. During the initial loading stages, PWP increases, with dynamic PWP showing significant dissipation later, while static PWP stabilizes gradually. The trends in dynamic and static axial strain changes are largely consistent, but dynamic axial strain develops 2–3 times faster and causes a significant warming effect within the frozen soil mass. When deformation is minimal, axial strain and PWP are positively correlated. During the PWP increase phase, its rate of change is more closely correlated with the axial strain rate. The interaction between temperature and stress is more pronounced under dynamic loads. The results confirmed that warm frozen soil undergoes pronounced softening under dynamic loading. These findings contribute to advancing the theoretical understanding of frozen soil dynamics and support improved design strategies for transportation infrastructure in cold regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10522,"journal":{"name":"Cold Regions Science and Technology","volume":"241 ","pages":"Article 104680"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145046258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of spatial variability of soil properties on artificial frozen curtain around twin tunnels","authors":"Wei Guo ,&nbsp;Tiancheng Sun ,&nbsp;Guoyao Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104681","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104681","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Artificial ground freezing (AGF) technology is widely used for groundwater control for twin tunnel construction in water-rich sandy soil. A thermal-hydro-salt-mechanical (THSM) coupled random model is proposed to consider the effects of spatial variabilities of soil properties on frozen curtain formed around twin tunnels. The results from the proposed model fairly agree with those from model test in literature. It is found that the amplitude fluctuations of the porosity and thermal conductivity of sandy soil influence the frozen curtains. Many gaps are found in the formed frozen curtain after different duration of AGF around twin tunnels. The differences of the proportion of the gap area between uniform soil and random properties of sandy soil with different amplitudes of fluctuation of porosity and thermal conductivity fall in the bounds of ±5 % and ±7 %, respectively. The degree of freezing versus time factor curves were randomly distributed due to the effects of the amplitude fluctuations of sandy soil and spacings of freeze pipes. However, they all lie above a fitting curve which could be used to conservatively design the AGF method used for groundwater control of twin tunnel construction in similar water-rich sandy soils.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10522,"journal":{"name":"Cold Regions Science and Technology","volume":"241 ","pages":"Article 104681"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145046257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Research on a wide applicability prediction model for embankments with different settlement patterns in permafrost regions","authors":"Saize Zhang ,&nbsp;Jiwei Liu ,&nbsp;Fujun Niu ,&nbsp;Tianchun Dong ,&nbsp;Xin Pan","doi":"10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104683","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104683","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In permafrost regions, due to climate warming and other factors, subgrade deformation may persist for extended periods. Accurately predicting the settlement of frozen soil subgrades is crucial for the stable operation of transportation infrastructure. However, the deformation rules of frozen soil subgrades are diverse, influenced by complex factors, and challenging to monitor. Settlement monitoring data can comprehensively reflect the effects of multiple influencing factors. Against this background, this study focuses solely on historical deformation monitoring data and compares three commonly used types of embankment settlement prediction methods, including curve fitting, grey models, and machine learning approaches. Based on this, a Stacking ensemble algorithm was employed to integrate different categories of prediction models, validated using settlement data from eight monitoring sites, and a Stacking-based model for embankment settlement in permafrost regions was developed and compared with traditional models. The results demonstrate that individual prediction models tend to exhibit inconsistent performance across different monitoring sites and working conditions, often lacking sufficient generalization capability. In contrast, the Stacking Hybrid Ensemble Model effectively leverages the strengths of multiple models, significantly improving overall prediction accuracy while maintaining stable and reliable performance across diverse conditions and locations. This highlights its superior adaptability and generalization ability, underscoring its potential for practical engineering applications in cold-region infrastructure monitoring and maintenance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10522,"journal":{"name":"Cold Regions Science and Technology","volume":"241 ","pages":"Article 104683"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145019999","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Climate warming weakens soil freeze-thaw erosion in the permafrost area of Northeast China","authors":"Jiangtao Yu ,&nbsp;Xiaodong Wu ,&nbsp;Shuying Zang","doi":"10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104682","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104682","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil freeze-thaw erosion (SFTE) changes when climate warming causes degradation of permafrost. However, the spatiotemporal changes of SFTE and its relationship with permafrost degradation remains unclear. Here we examined changes in active layer thickness (ALT) and SFTE in the Northeast China permafrost area from 1982 to 2022. We further constructed new framework integrated Geodetector, Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) and Extreme Gradient Boosting-SHapley Additive exPlanations (XGBoost-SHAP) model to explore the dominant factors, spatial heterogeneity, and nonlinear threshold effects of ALT and SFTE changes. The results showed that ALT increased by 19.7 cm from 1982 to 2022; the area of micro erosion increased by 9.97 × 10⁴ km², while the area of mild erosions and above decreased by 9.36 × 10⁴ km². The factors with the greatest contribution for ALT were air temperature (AT) and soil water content, and the greatest for SFTE were annual soil temperature difference and soil water content. Both AT and soil water content showed high spatial heterogeneity on ALT, with positive AT and negative soil water content effects. Annual soil temperature difference and soil water content showed low spatial heterogeneity for SFTE and both had positive effects. XGBoost-SHAP results showed that air temperature and annual soil temperature difference had the highest feature significance and interpretability. ALT showed a complex association mechanism for SFTE intensity, which was overall negative and showed a non-linear threshold effect. Our study showed that permafrost degradation does not increase SFTE. This finding provides a reference for maintaining ecological security and SFTE management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10522,"journal":{"name":"Cold Regions Science and Technology","volume":"241 ","pages":"Article 104682"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145096225","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Snow Storage in Nordic skiing: From physical drivers of snow loss to operational considerations","authors":"Sondre Bergtun Auganæs ,&nbsp;Erik Melin Söderström ,&nbsp;Fabian Wolfsperger","doi":"10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104678","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104678","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Reliable snow conditions are essential for Nordic skiing, but climate warming and the year-to-year climatic variability make both, natural snowfall and artificial snow production, increasingly unfavourable. To address this challenge and meet the growing demand for dependable skiing, many Nordic ski facilities have adopted snow storage, in which snow is preserved over the summer by covering it with insulating materials such as sawdust.</div><div>This study presents data from 37 snow storages with sawdust or geotextile covers. For the first time, an empirical model was parametrized to predict the volume loss of a sawdust covered snow storage. The observed range of snow losses (11.5 % to 32.5 %) could be explained well (R²_adj = 0.88) by the four influencing factors, cover thickness, total volume, surface area, and temperature. The findings indicated that besides applying adequate insultation covers, minimizing the surface-area-to-volume ratio and maximizing the storage volume, both effectively reduce snow loss. This means shaping the pile more like a hemisphere to reduce surface area and/or increasing its size.</div><div>Resource use and economic aspects of snow storage were examined to provide practical recommendations for improving efficiency and reducing costs. When combined with the snow loss analysis, the results indicate that sawdust layers thicker than 30 cm are not cost-effective, as the additional reduction in snow loss is too small to justify the higher material costs. The primary cost driver was snow transportation from storage to slopes and trails, highlighting the need for strategic storage placement within the slope and trail network to improve efficiency and reduce expenses. The findings offer practical recommendations for improving snow storage efficiency, reducing costs, and ensuring reliable early-season skiing. Ultimately, this study contributes to the sustainability of Nordic skiing, helping to secure consistent snow availability for both recreational and competitive skiing in a more resource-efficient way.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10522,"journal":{"name":"Cold Regions Science and Technology","volume":"241 ","pages":"Article 104678"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145046256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tensile behavior of steam-free UHPC under tensile stress in extreme cold environments from 20 °C to − 165 °C","authors":"Xiaomeng Hou ,&nbsp;Junjie Wang ,&nbsp;Naifu Wang ,&nbsp;Junhua Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104668","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104668","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Axial tensile tests on 42 UHPC specimens (2 mixes) across temperatures from 20 °C to −165 °C showed that non-steam-cured UHPC's tensile strength increased at low temperatures compared to room temperature. This strength improvement peaked at −120 °C before declining with further cooling. The study also proposed a strength ratio equation and a strain softening model for UHPC under ultra-low temperature tension.The tensile behavior of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) in LNG tank operational conditions at ultra-low temperatures (−165 °C) was investigated.The influence of two UHPC mix proportions and seven temperatures from 20 °C to −165 °C on the tensile performance of the material was explored by conducting uniaxial tensile tests on 42 sets of 100 mm × 100 mm × 300 mm dogbone-shaped tensile specimens. Experimental data indicated enhancement in UHPC tensile capacity when temperature decreased from 20 °C to −165 °C, reaching its peak at −120 °C, i.e., an increase of about 32 % (Group A) and 47 % (Group B) compared to room temperature. Further, a strength ratio-based equation was developed to calculate the uniaxial tensile strength of UHPC in ultra-low temperatures environments while constructing a theoretical model equation to characterize the axial tensile behavior of UHPC materials. The results showed that low temperatures can form an ice mesh structure inside UHPC, which densifies the matrix and improves the axial tensile strength of UHPC. In addition, steel fiber reinforcement significantly enhances the post-cracking ductility of UHPC under cryogenic conditions, thereby establishing theoretical foundations for implementing UHPC in full-concrete LNG tank structures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10522,"journal":{"name":"Cold Regions Science and Technology","volume":"241 ","pages":"Article 104668"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145061184","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Uniaxial tensile stress-strain model of UHPC at low temperatures: Experimental and mesoscale analysis","authors":"Liu Jin ,&nbsp;Chenxi Xie ,&nbsp;Wenxuan Yu ,&nbsp;Yuzhao Zhang ,&nbsp;Xiuli Du","doi":"10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104669","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104669","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) has been increasingly applied in engineering structure exposed to extremely low-temperature environments. The mechanical properties of UHPC at cryogenic temperatures urgently need scientific research. To investigate the uniaxial tensile behaviors of UHPC at low temperatures, a series of physical tests and mesoscale simulations were conducted. The effects of low temperatures (ranging from 20 °C to −90 °C) and steel fiber contents (ranging from 0.0 % to 3.0 %) on failure modes, stress-strain curves and tensile performance indices of UHPC were discussed. Results showed that the uniaxial tensile behaviors of UHPC at low temperatures still exhibits multi-crack ductile failure. As the temperature decreases, the crack width widens and the slope of post-peak stress-strain curve becomes steeper, indicating an increased brittleness. Furthermore, the increasing steel fiber content significantly enhances the post-cracking tensile behavior of UHPC at low temperatures. Notably, from 20 °C to −90 °C, the elastic modulus and tensile strength of UHPC increase by 97.1 % and 42.3 %, respectively, while the peak strain and toughness index decrease by 27.8 % and 46.3 %, respectively. Finally, a simplified tensile stress-strain model considering the combined effects of low temperature and steel fiber content was proposed and verified, which can accurately predict the nonlinear tensile behaviors of UHPC at low temperatures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10522,"journal":{"name":"Cold Regions Science and Technology","volume":"241 ","pages":"Article 104669"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145027098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}