Energy dissipation and failure criterion of artificial frozen soil

• The compressive tests have been conducted and the mechanical behaviors are analyzed;
• The relationships between energy accumulation, energy dissipation, and deformation processes were obtained;
• A new strength criterion based on strain energy principle is proposed for frozen soil;
• The failure surface of the strength criterion in complicated stress space is given.

The failure mechanism of frozen soil is very complicated and shows closely dependence on many factors. A precise physical definition for failure state of frozen silt is not easily quantified. Energy conversion is one of the most important physical principles, and it can be inferred that the failure is the final result of an energy-driven unstable process. The explorations of intrinsic relationships among energy storage, energy release, and strength are important to understand the failure mechanism of frozen soil. In this study, the propagations of strain energy accumulation, dissipation and release are investigated. A framework is established to facilitate the analysis of failure behavior based on energy dissipation and energy release principles, and a new strength criterion is established for frozen soil. According to this criterion, frozen soil starts to fail when the ratio of elastic shear strain energy to elastic volumetric strain energy reaches a critical value. When such an approach is adopted, the problem of modeling failure initiation and propagation of frozen soil becomes greatly simplified.