Evaluation of Three Frost Heave Models

U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, NH, USA.

Abstract

Simulating the water and ice content of the ground, with an emphasis on the capacity to bear traffic, is important for planning the use of existing roads. Of most interest is how weak the ground becomes during thaw and the length of time during which the ground is weakened. If a model accurately predicts frost heave and the locations of the ice lenses that form based on ground surface temperatures, it then is a good starting point for understanding the location of the moisture during thaw. For this reason, we evaluated and compared three frost heave models based on the results of laboratory soil freezing tests. Of the three frost heave models evaluated, the PC-Heave model and the Porosity Rate model accurately simulated the frost heave. FROST was less accurate than the other two models.