Mechanical behavior of frozen soil under uniaxial dynamic loading

Investigation of dynamic behavior of frozen soil is of great importance to artificial ground freezing method in underground engineering, etc. In this article, split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) was employed to investigate the dynamic behavior of artificial frozen soil under uni-axial stress condition. Tests were conducted at the temperature of -3, -8, -13, - 7, -23 and -28°C and strain rates from 300 to 1200 s^-1. The stress-strain curves at different conditions were obtained. Result showed that: (1) the uni-axial stress-strain curves of frozen soil show brittle character; (2) the compressive strength of frozen soil shows positive strain-rate and negative temperature sensitivity, and the final strain of frozen soil shows positive strain-rate sensitivity over the range of strain rates and temperature considered; (3) the thermal effect of frozen soil is greater at higher loading strain rates, and the strain rates sensitivity of frozen soil is higher at lower temperature. The viscoelastic damage model mentioned in this article can describe the stress strain relation of frozen soil under dynamic loading.