The freeze-thaw damage degree of shotcrete in the initial support of tunnels in cold regions is significantly higher than that of casting concrete in the secondary lining structure, but the mechanism is still unclear. The freeze-thaw damage process of shotcrete and casting concrete was comparatively studied in this paper. The mechanism of the influence of molding method on the freeze-thaw failure process was also analyzed. The results show that: the deterioration rate of shotcrete under freeze-thaw cycles was significantly faster than that of casting concrete. Under the same number of freeze-thaw cycles, the surface spalling, mess loss, and decline in compressive strength and dynamic elastic modulus for shotcrete was more serious than that for the casting concrete. The changes in the pore structure of shotcrete caused by the spraying process are the fundamental reason for the poor frost resistance of shotcrete. During the freezing process (−15 °C), almost all pores greater than 1 µm freeze and with a size in the range of 0.005–1 µm partially freeze. As the higher content and larger pores in shotcrete, more new pores will be formed during the freeze-thaw process. Additionally, as the high porosity of interfacial transition zone (ITZ) and matrix in shotcrete, the freeze-thaw failure process of shotcrete is characterized by the failure of ITZ first, followed by the matrix. However, the casting concrete mainly exhibits ITZ damage within 75 freeze-thaw cycles.
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