Two-phase closed thermosyphon-induced frost jacking of piles and foundation instability in a thawed permafrost area

Lei Guo, Qihao Yu (), Na Yin (), Yanhui You, Jinchang Wang, Yongning Sun and Kun Chen
Additional contact information
Lei Guo: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Qihao Yu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Na Yin: Gansu City Real Estate Development CO., Ltd
Yanhui You: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jinchang Wang: China Railway Qinghai–Tibet Group Co., Ltd
Yongning Sun: China Railway Qinghai–Tibet Group Co., Ltd
Kun Chen: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2024, vol. 120, issue 1, No 30, 619-637

Abstract: Abstract Two-phase closed thermosyphon (TPCT) is widely used to cool foundation soil and improve the stability of structures in cold regions. However, along with the cooling of soil surrounding a TPCT, frost heaving of soil can occur, which might pull the structures out, but this phenomenon has rarely been reported. In this paper, based on field observations along the Qinghai–Tibet power transmission line, we present a case study on the frost jacking of piles, with the largest jacking amount being up to 65 mm from December 2011 to November 2018, because of the application of TPCTs. Owing to a greatly enlarged frozen section around the piles due to the cooling of TPCTs, moisture migration toward and frost heaving around the pile were greatly intensified. This resulted in an obvious increase in the tangential frost heaving force and a decrease in the anti-frost jacking force. Thus, the pile might be jacked out from the ground. In areas with shallow developed artesian ground water, the frost jacking of the pile with TPCTs was determined to be more probable because the tangential frost heaving force will be greatly increased. The influence of the decreasing efficiency, or even the failure of TPCTs applied in engineering structures, might give rise to the development of differential deformation, threatening the stability of the tower on the piles. The results indicate that the application of TPCTs for engineering in talik or seasonally frozen areas should be more careful and increasing concern should be given for the engineering influence of TPCT failure.

Keywords: Frost jacking; Two-phase closed thermosyphon (TPCT); Permafrost; Pile foundation; Deformation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11069-023-06169-6 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:120:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s11069-023-06169-6

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11069

DOI: 10.1007/s11069-023-06169-6

Access Statistics for this article

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards is currently edited by Thomas Glade, Tad S. Murty and Vladimír Schenk

More articles in Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards from Springer, International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().