Deformation characteristics of Lop Nur salt rock subgrade filler under influences of temperature

To investigate the deformation characteristics of salt rock subgrade filler under the influences of temperature, ensure the stability of salt rock subgrade and promote the resource application of salt rock in subgrade engineering, the characteristics of phase transformation in brine and salt rock are analyzed. An orthogonal test method is used to investigate the deformation of salt rock filler under the interaction of multiple factors in a single cooling condition. The salt expansion accumulation laws of salt rock filler after multiple freeze-thaw cycles are studied. Based on the test section field monitoring, the deformation characteristics of salt rock subgrade in salt lake area are evaluated. The results show that the cooling curves of different brine concentrations do not exhibit any obvious subcooling stage, their balance and fluctuation are very short, and the brine phase transition temperature increases with the increasing concentration. The cooling curve of salt rock filler has an obvious stage of subcooling and temperature jump, and the phase transition temperature decreases with the increase of the mixed brine concentration. The deformation of salt rock filler under single cooling condition ranges from -0.09 mm to 0.18 mm. The order of influences of various factors on the deformation of salt rock filler is as follows: overburden load > brine content > maximum particle size > compaction. The lower the concentration of mixed brine under the freeze-thaw cycle, the greater the salt expansion of salt rock filler. The overburden load has a strong effect on inhibiting salt swelling of salt rock fillers. The field monitoring of the entity engineering shows that with the growth of monitoring time, the deformation of the salt rock subgrade shows a sinusoidal cyclical variation and decreases along the depth direction, and it has a strong linear correlation with temperature.