• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.67-74
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• 2019

Frost heave is one of the representative engineering characteristics in cold regions. In South Korea, which is located in seasonal frost area, structural damage caused by frost heave and thaw happens and the need for research on the frost heave is increasing. In this paper, newly developed transparent temperature-controllable cell is used to focus on the frost heave. Frost susceptible artificial soil is used to analyze water intake rate which is one of the important factors in frost susceptibility criteria. Frost heave rate and water intake rate have similar behavior after heave by freezing of pore water converges. O-ring installed in the upper pedestal to measure water intake rate generates side friction between the inner wall of the freezing cell and O-ring, thereby hindering frost heave. Therefore, the frost susceptibility criteria using the water intake rate is not reliable. It is appropriate to use frost heave rate which has similar behavior with water intake rate. Frost heave tests were performed under two different specimen heights. Overburden pressure, temperature gradient and dry unit weight were set under similar state. Based on laboratory testing results, frost heave is independent on the specimen height.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.1-7
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• 2018

As part of a research dedicated to the field evaluation of the durability of concrete subjected to freezing-thawing, this study analyzes the relationship between the surface roughness and the relative dynamic elastic modulus through image analysis. Four mix compositions with water-to-binder ratios (W/B) of 40%, 50%, 60% and 70% and without AE agent were considered to provoke early freezing. The basic physical properties of the mixes including the relative dynamic elastic modulus and the compressive strength were first evaluated experimentally according to W/B. Then, tests were performed to measure the surface roughness followed by photographs and SEM image analysis. The measured surface roughness tended to increase with larger number of freezing-thawing cycles regardless of W/B. The relative dynamic elastic modulus appeared to increase gradually with the number of cycles for the relatively denser mixes with W/B of 40% and 50%. Besides, the surface roughness increased only at rupture for the mixes with W/B of 60% and 70%. Moreover, the analysis of the photographs of the surface of the mixes with W/B of 40% and 50% revealed that the degradation progressed gradually from the surface with the freezing-thawing cycles. However, for the mixes with W/B of 60% and 70%, apparent change of the surface remained very insignificant until rupture at which damage like cracking could be observed. Consequently, the analysis of surface photograph or the measurement of the surface roughness presented some limitation in assessing the degree of freezing-thawing-induced degradation in case of relatively porous specimens. On the other hand, the photograph and surface roughness appeared to be sufficient for assessing such degradation for the mixes with W/B of 40% and 50%. Accordingly, the image of the surface and the surface roughness are potentially applicable on site for the assessment of freezing-thawing damages in relatively dense mixes.