Numerical simulation method for thermal-stress coupling in artificial freezing process

With the development of underground engineering, the artificial freezing method has become the common techniques of underground construction. The law of the development of artificial frozen temperature field and the influence on the surrounding environment because of frost heave in the freezing process need to be further studied. The law of variation of the thermal physical parameters along with the temperature field is obtained through laboratory tests, then a numerical method considering thermal stress coupling in the process of artificial freezing is proposed and established based on an artificial frozen soil project of a connecting passage of Tianjin subway. The development law of temperature fields and the amount of frost heaving of soil during freezing process are calculated by using this method. The proposed method is proved to be feasible by comparing the calculated results with the actual data. Consequently, the proposed method can provide guidance and reference for the design and construction of artificial freezing projects. ©, 2015, Yantu Gongcheng Xuebao/Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering. All right reserved.