Influence of insulation layer on the thermal behavior of subgrade soils

TY - JOUR

T1 - Influence of insulation layer on the thermal behavior of subgrade soils

AU - Zhuo, Zhuang

AU - Xie, Zhaoxing

AU - Ali, Ayman

AU - Mehta, Yusuf

AU - Zhu, Cheng

AU - Lein, Wade

AU - Decarlo, Christopher

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © ASCE.

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - An insulation layer on the top of the frost-susceptible soil has been proved as an efficient strategy to mitigate frost heave and thaw weakening for pavement in cold regions. To investigate the heat-transfer process in insulated pavements and compare the performance of different insulation materials under similar environmental conditions, we build five large-scale (4 ft by 4 ft by 3 ft deep; or 1.21 m by 1.21 m by 0.91 m deep) insulated pavement samples using different insulation materials. One of the samples is a control sample with no insulating layer, while the other four samples are insulated by extruded polystyrene (XPS) boards, tire chips, foamed concrete, and foamed glass aggregates (FGA), respectively. We place a frost panel on the top of each sample to control the freezing process from the surface. We adopt two types of environmental conditions, including constantly freezing and natural freeze-thaw environment with internal temperature distribution monitored by embedded thermocouples at different depths. Experimental results indicate that the insulation layer has a significant impact on the temperature distribution in both layers above and below the insulation layer. By comparing the thermal performance of the control sample and insulated sample under two environmental conditions, the XPS board is more suitable to utilize as an insulating layer compared to other insulating materials, followed by tire chips, foam glass aggregates, and foamed concrete.

AB - An insulation layer on the top of the frost-susceptible soil has been proved as an efficient strategy to mitigate frost heave and thaw weakening for pavement in cold regions. To investigate the heat-transfer process in insulated pavements and compare the performance of different insulation materials under similar environmental conditions, we build five large-scale (4 ft by 4 ft by 3 ft deep; or 1.21 m by 1.21 m by 0.91 m deep) insulated pavement samples using different insulation materials. One of the samples is a control sample with no insulating layer, while the other four samples are insulated by extruded polystyrene (XPS) boards, tire chips, foamed concrete, and foamed glass aggregates (FGA), respectively. We place a frost panel on the top of each sample to control the freezing process from the surface. We adopt two types of environmental conditions, including constantly freezing and natural freeze-thaw environment with internal temperature distribution monitored by embedded thermocouples at different depths. Experimental results indicate that the insulation layer has a significant impact on the temperature distribution in both layers above and below the insulation layer. By comparing the thermal performance of the control sample and insulated sample under two environmental conditions, the XPS board is more suitable to utilize as an insulating layer compared to other insulating materials, followed by tire chips, foam glass aggregates, and foamed concrete.

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U2 - 10.1061/9780784483435.039

DO - 10.1061/9780784483435.039

M3 - Conference article

SN - 0895-0563

VL - 2021-May

SP - 401

EP - 411

JO - Geotechnical Special Publication

JF - Geotechnical Special Publication

IS - GSP 326

T2 - 2021 International Foundations Congress and Equipment Expo: Geoenvironmental Engineering, Geomaterial Modeling, Transporation Geotechnics, and Case Histories, IFCEE 2021

Y2 - 10 May 2021 through 14 May 2021

ER -