Experimental assessment of the effect of frozen fringe thickness on frost heave

A frozen fringe plays a key role in frost heave development in soils. Previous studies have focused on the physical and mechanical properties of the frozen fringe, such as overall hydraulic conductivity, water content and pore pressure. It has been proposed that the thickness of the frozen fringe controls frost heave behavior, but this effect has not been thoroughly evaluated. This study used a temperature-controllable cell to investigate the impact of frozen fringe thickness on the characteristics of frost heave. A series of laboratory tests was performed with various temperature boundary conditions and specimen heights, revealing that: (1) the amount and rate of development of frost heave are dependent on the frozen fringe thickness; (2) the thicker the frozen fringe, the thinner the resulting ice lens; and (3) care must be taken when using the frost heave ratio to characterize frost heave and evaluate frost susceptibility because the frost heave ratio is not a normalized factor but a specimen height-dependent factor.