Compressibility of fine-grained soils subjected to closed-system freezing and thaw consolidation

In order to investigate the effects of freezing and thawing on the compressibility of fine-grained soils, freezing and thawing tests and subsequent compression tests with fine-grained soils in an oedometer were carried out. During the freezing, a part of the soils is loosened and another part is over-consolidated under the freezing pressure σE. The compression curves after the freezing and thaw consolidation are neither different from the normal consolidation curve nor from the rebound curve of an unfro zen soil, until the consolidation pressure σz = σE is arrived. Based on the experimental results, a theoretical model has been developed to predict the frost heaves, the thaw-settlements and the compressive deformations of fine-grained soils after the thaw consolidation. The theoretical results are very close to the experimental results.