Tensile Strength of Frozen Soil in the Temperature Range of the Frozen Fringe

Frost heaving is a discontinuous phenomenon. It starts from rupture in the partially frozen soil called the frozen fringe and then segregation of an ice lens follows in the rupture. Macroscopically, the above-mentioned cycle repeats consistently as soil freezes. The rupture of the frozen fringe should govern the initial conditions of ice lens growth; however, it has not been studied so far. In this paper, the rupture is studied assuming that it has a close relationship with the tensile strength of the frozen fringe. The compressive strength of frozen soil was well-studied in the last century. However, the tensile strength of frozen soil in frozen fringe temperature range, i.e. 0 to –2 oC, has not yet been explored. Disturbed, reconsolidated, and frozen diluvial silt called Dotan in Japan was used as the test specimen. A newly developed tensile test apparatus was used. Fifteen tensile tests were conducted in the temperature range of +0.6 to –1.31 oC. A steep rise in the tensile strength in th