Deformation properties of thawing silty clay under cyclic loading

Through the unconfined compression tests on thawing silty clay under cyclic loading by using an MTS dynamic triaxial apparatus, the deformation property analysis is made, and the influences of water content, amplitude of cyclic loading, cooling temperature and thawing temperature on the upside of the samples are taken into consideration. Some conclusions are drawn: ①The accumulated deformation of thawing silty clay increases with the increase of cooling temperature, and the soil with the higher amplitude of cyclic loading exhibites larger deformation. The thawing soil with the optimum water content expresses the lowest deformation and the influence of thawing temperature on soil deformation is very limited. ②Except for a critical dynamic loading, a critical cooling temperature is observed in thawing silty clay, the soil with the cooling temperature lower than that expresses the stable state of deformation after cyclic loading, and the soil with the cooling temperature higher than that will fail after some cyclic loading. ③Higher ability against the cyclic loading is observed of thawing soil than that of thawed soil, especially for the soil with the higher water content. ④The empirical model for deformation of thawing silty clay is given, which is in good agreement with the test data and can be used to predict the accumulated deformation of thawing silty clay simply.