Research and monitoring on the water-heat-gas behavior and frost heaving characteristics of coarse-grained fillers under unidirectional freezing conditions

Abstract

Gaseous water migration is a crucial factor in the development of frost heaving in coarse-grained fillers. The goal is to study the gaseous water migration and frost heaving characteristics of coarse-grained fillers. Based on the law of light reflection and refraction, Polymer optical fiber (POF) sensors are proposed to monitor the light intensity in the fillers during the freezing process, so that the intrinsic correlation between the light intensity and the phase transition and migration of water can be analyzed. A series of unidirectional experiments was conducted by using a gaseous water migration system alongside POF sensors. The experimental results show that particle size and initial water content profoundly influence the freezing depth and the volume of gaseous water migration. Larger particle sizes and lower initial water contents enhance gaseous water migration. Fine-grained induced early deformation, and the soil skeleton caused continuous frost heaving, with both mutually constraining each other. By harnessing the data from POF sensor monitoring to forge a light intensity-inflow relationship model, it is found that the study could grasp the phase change and gaseous water migration in real-time. The results of gaseous water migration in coarse-grained fillers provided a valuable supplement to traditional frost heaving theory.