A model for frost-susceptible soils, effective in simulating frost heave, is presented. This model is based on a porosity rate function that describes the global increase in the soil volume due to growth of ice. Individual ice lenses, however, are not simulated. The model was implemented in the finite element analysis, and the displacement of a retaining wall was simulated due to freezing of the frost-susceptible backfill. Because heaving requires the freezing front to propagate into the frost susceptible soil, it is demonstrated that thermal insulation along the wall inhibits the frost heave to some extent, and prevents excessive tilting of the structure.
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