Experimental study of pre-cracked concrete subjected to cryogenic freeze-thaw cycles based on an LNG concrete tank

To investigate the mechanical properties of concrete under the leakage condition for a liquefied natural gas storage tank,cryogenic freeze-thaw cycle tests were performed under liquid nitrogen refrigeration and water immersion melting.The effects of the cryogenic temperature,freeze-thaw cycle,pre-crack,and addition of steel fiber on the compressive strength,flexural strength,and splitting tensile concrete strength were analyzed.The experimental results show that the width of pre-cracks tends to expand after freeze-thaw cycles.When the freezing temperature is -80℃,the relative width of the pre-cracks expands by 1 to 2 times.However,when the freezing temperature is -120℃,the relative width of the pre-cracks expands by 2 to 5 times.Compared with the specimens without steel fibers,the specimens with steel fibers can still maintain a relatively complete appearance structure after the mechanical property tests.The compressive strength,flexural strength,and splitting tensile concrete strength decrease with the drop in the freezing temperature.After adding steel fibers,all of the three strengths increased.

Spatial-temporal variations in near-surface soil freeze-thaw cycles in the source region of the Yellow River during the period 2002–2011 based on the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System(AMSR-E) data

Detecting near-surface soil freeze-thaw cycles in high-altitude cold regions is important for understanding the Earth＇s surface system, but such studies are rare. In this study, we detected the spatial-temporal variations in near-surface soil freeze-thaw cycles in the source region of the Yellow River（SRYR） during the period 2002–2011 based on data from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System（AMSR-E）. Moreover, the trends of onset dates and durations of the soil freeze-thaw cycles under different stages were also analyzed. Results showed that the thresholds of daytime and nighttime brightness temperatures of the freeze-thaw algorithm for the SRYR were 257.59 and 261.28 K, respectively. At the spatial scale, the daily frozen surface（DFS） area and the daily surface freeze-thaw cycle surface（DFTS） area decreased by 0.08% and 0.25%, respectively, and the daily thawed surface（DTS） area increased by 0.36%. At the temporal scale, the dates of the onset of thawing and complete thawing advanced by 3.10（±1.4） and 2.46（±1.4） days, respectively; and the dates of the onset of freezing and complete freezing were delayed by 0.9（±1.4） and 1.6（±1.1） days, respectively. The duration of thawing increased by 0.72（±0.21） day/a and the duration of freezing decreased by 0.52（±0.26） day/a. In conclusion, increases in the annual minimum temperature and winter air temperature are the main factors for the advanced thawing and delayed freezing and for the increase in the duration of thawing and the decrease in the duration of freezing in the SRYR.

Research and Prediction on the Properties of Concrete at Cryogenic Temperature Based on Gray Theory

To solve the cryogenic temperature problems faced by all-concrete liquefied natural gas(ACLNG)storage tanks during servicing,a low temperature resistant and high strength concrete(LHC)was designed from the perspectives of reducing water-binder ratio,removing coarse aggregates,optimizing composite mineral admixture and utilizing steel fibers.The variation laws of compressive and tensile strength,elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio for C60 concrete and LHC were compared and analyzed under the temperatures from 10 to-165℃through uniaxial compression and tensile tests.The rapid freezing method was adopted to analyze the evolution process of mass and relative dynamic elastic modulus loss rates for C60 and LHC in 0-300 freeze-thaw cycles.The gas permeability test was carried out,and the laws of gas permeability coefficient varied with temperature and cryogenic freeze-thaw cycles were obtained.Then,the grey dynamic model GM(1,1)was used to predict the variation laws of physical and mechanical parameters on the basis of the test data.The test results demonstrate that the compressive strength,elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio for both C60 and LHC increase significantly from 10 to-165℃,but the specific variation laws are difierent,and there is a phenomenon that some parameters decrease after reaching a critical temperature range for C60.The uniaxial tensile strength increases first and then decreases as temperature decreases,and finally increases slightly at-165℃for both C60 and LHC.The mass and relative dynamic elastic modulus loss rates of LHC are much lower than that of C60 under different freeze-thaw cycles.The gas permeability coefficient of C60 declines gradually with the drop of temperature,and increases gradually with the number of freeze-thaw cycles while the gas permeability coefficient of LHC basically remains stable and is much lower than that of C60.Therefore,such a conclusion can be drawn that LHC has better properties at cryogenic temperature.On the premise of providing consistent functional mode,GM(1,1)can predict the test data with high accuracy,which well reflects the variation laws of relevant parameters.

Optimal slag content for geopolymer composites under freeze-thaw cycles with different freezing temperatures

Improving the freeze-thaw resistance of geopolymers is of great significance to ensure their durability in cold regions. This study presents an experimental investigation of optimal slag content for geopolymer composites under freeze-thaw cycles with different freezing temperatures. Firstly, five kinds of geopolymer composites with 10.0%, 20.0%, 30.0%, 40.0%,and 50.0% slag contents and 1.0% fiber content were prepared. Freeze-thaw cycle tests at-1.0 ℃,-20.0 ℃, and-40.0 ℃ were carried out for these geopolymer composites and their physical and mechanical properties after the freeze-thaw cycle were tested. The results show that the porosity of the geopolymer composites decreases as the slag content increases. Their mass loss ratio and strength loss ratio increase gradually as the freezing temperature decreases. The mass loss ratio and strength loss ratio of geopolymer composites after freeze-thaw cycles all decrease as the slag content increases. Considering the physical and mechanical properties of geopolymers after freeze-thaw cycles, the optimal slag contents are 40.0% and 50.0%.

Shortened duration and reduced area of frozen soil in the Northern Hemisphere

The changes in near-surface soil freeze-thaw cycles(FTCs)are crucial to understanding the related hydrological and biological processes in terrestrial ecosystems under a changing climate.However,long-term dynamics of soil FTCs at the hemisphere scale and the underlying mechanisms are not well understood.In this study,the spatiotemporal patterns and main driving factors of soil FTCs across the Northern Hemisphere(NH)during 1979–2017 were analyzed using multisource data fusion and attribution approaches.Our results showed that the duration and the annual mean area of frozen soil in the NH decreased significantly at rates of 0.13±0.04 days/year and 4.93104 km^(2)/year,respectively,over the past 40 years.These were mainly because the date of frozen soil onset was significantly delayed by 0.1±0.02 days/year,while the end of freezing and onset of thawing were substantially advanced by 0.21±0.02 and 0.15±0.03 days/year,respectively.Moreover,the interannual FTC changes were more drastic in Eurasia than in North America,especially at mid-latitudes(30
–45
N)and in Arctic regions(>75
N).More importantly,our results highlighted that near-surface air temperature(Ta)and snowpack are the main driving factors of the spatiotemporal variations in soil FTCs.Furthermore,our results suggested that the long-term dynamics of soil FTCs at the hemisphere scale should be considered in terrestrial biosphere models to reduce uncertainties in future simulations.