Present situation and prospect of mechanical research on frozen soils in China

Engineering construction in cold regions and artificial ground freezing projects require an understanding of the mechanical properties of frozen soils. An understanding of properties such as strength and deformation are important for engineering design purposes. In the past decades of years, because of the increase of the engineering, such as the Qinghai-Tibet Railway (QTR), the Qinghai-Tibet Highway and the Golmud-Lhasa Oilpipe (GLO), constructed in frozen soil regions on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the study on the material properties of frozen soils in China was being developed quickly, and numerous research results were achieved. This paper summarizes these research fruits in four aspects: (1). Strength property of frozen soils, (2). Deformation behavior of frozen soils, (3). Constitutive models for frozen soils, (4). Dynamical property of frozen soils. This summary would be helpful for their convenient application in practical engineering, as well as for supplying foundation and developing direction of mechanical property research on frozen soils. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.