A NEW METHOD FOR CALCULATING FROST HEAVE INCLUDING SOLUTE EFFECTS

A numerical method is presented that models the coupled flow of heat, water, and solutes as unsaturated soil freezes. Input requires a general knowledge of the physical properties of the soil as well as the initial water, temperature, and solute distributions. Soil surface temperature or the heat flux across the soil surface drives the model. The method reproduces the observations of temperature and water movement in two nonsaline field studies previously reported in the literature. The analysis shows that increasing solutes can decrease frost heaving by reducing water flow to the ice lens. A method for measuring the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity in frozen soil is proposed.