Evolution mechanism of frost heaving pressure in cold-region tunnels considering freeze-thaw cycling effects

Abstract

The lining cracking problem in cold-region tunnels induced by freeze-thaw cycles during long-term operation has become increasingly prominent, which essentially originates from the cumulative evolution of frost heaving pressure within the rock mass. Most existing studies mainly focus on the mechanical responses under a single freeze-thaw cycle and fail to fully consider the cumulative damage to the rock mass and residual strain effects resulting from repeated freeze-thaw cycles. In this study, systematic freeze-thaw tests (0–40 cycles) were conducted on sandstone specimens. The results indicate that frost heaving strain evolves through a combination of elastic deformation and residual strain. As the number of freeze-thaw cycles increases, the contribution of residual strain to total deformation rises from 54% after 10 cycles to 68% after 40 cycles. Based on experimental data, a rock mass constitutive model for the rock mass was developed, incorporating freeze-thaw damage evolution and residual strain accumulation. Subsequently, a numerical model of the tunnel lining-rock mass system under freeze-thaw cycles was established. The results show that freeze-thaw cycles significantly amplify frost heaving pressure, with peak pressure acting on the tunnel lining reaching 4 to 6 times the initial value (increasing from 0.58 MPa to 3.56 MPa) after 30 cycles. The presence of a subgrade leads to an uneven distribution of freezing zone morphology, which further increases the frost heaving pressure at the tunnel crown by 1.8 times. The evolution analysis of lining damage shows that cracking initiates at the tunnel sidewalls approximately 10 years after tunnel operation. This study innovatively reveals the synergistic control mechanism by which freeze-thaw cycles and subgrade thermal effects govern frost damage development, thereby providing a theoretical tool for the long-term safety assessment of cold-region tunnels.

Keywords

Cold-region tunnels / Numerical simulation / Frost heaving pressure / Freeze-thaw cycles

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