A Water-Heat-Force Coupled Framework for the Preparation of Soils for Application in Frozen Soil Model Test

The freezing of soil containing a liquid is a complex transient heat conduction problem involving phase change and release or absorption of latent heat.Existing efforts have essentially focused on theoretical research and numerical simulations.In the present study,the problem is approached from an experimental point of view using the so-called“freezing model test”method.In particular,in order to establish a precise relationship between the model and the prototype,a temperature similarity criterion is derived using the condition of an equal number of Kosovitch.Similarity is also established with respect to other aspects.A similarity criterion for the water field is determined on the basis of relevant partial differential equations.Analogous criteria for the stress field and load are derived using an elastic model.The validity of this approach is experimentally verified.The research results provide a practical and reasonable method for calculating the parameters for preparing model soils.They also constitute a theoretical basis and a technical support for the design and implementation of a water-heat-force similarity coupled framework.