Freezing-induced bulk soil volume changes
2010
Dagesse, Daryl F.
An outline is presented of the relations between the energy status of water and the content of liquid water and ice in frozen soils. The theory formulates the dependence of the soil moisture characteristic (moisture retention curve) of a frozen soil on the load pressure and the temperature. This formulation requires the definition of the envelope-pressure potentials and the frost potentials of the soil moisture and the ice present in the soil. These potentials are expressed in terms of the void ratio, the moisture ratio, the ice ratio, the moisture ratio equivalent, and the ice ratio equivalent. The relations between these variables are intrinsic properties of the porous medium. They have to be determined by experiment or deduced from indirect measurements. The present theory facilitates such deductions. The measurement of the equilibrium soil moisture and ice pressures in frozen soil is more difficult than the measurement of the volume ratios. Thus, it may be advantageous to deduce the former from the latter. Some data from the literature are used to demonstrate the use of indirect measurements in order to obtain the required properties.
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