Research status of soil frost-heave theory and frost-heave prediction models

Soil frost heaving is a complex physical, mechanical, and chemical synthesis process. This paper summarizes the frost-heaving theory over half a century, including the capillary theory, the frozen-fringe theory, and those achievements recently made by scholars. In this paper, we also discus researching achievements of the soil-prediction model during the past 40 years, including the water-dynamics model, the rigid-ice model, the segregation-potential model, and the thermodynamic model. This summary and discussion will enable readers to understand the latest direction of research; it also summarizes the development of frost-heave prediction models and their advantages and shortcomings.