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Ch. Pichler, R. Lackner, H.A. Mang:
"Continuum-Micromechanics Approach for Determination of Frost Heave in Artificial Ground Freezing";
in: "Proceedings of the 2nd MIT Conference on Computational Fluid and Solid Mechanics", K.J. Bathe (ed.); Elsevier Science, Oxford, 2003, ISBN: 0-08-044046-0, 578 - 581.

The high strength and stiffness of frozen soil is exploited for artificial ground freezing (AGF) for the design of means of structural support during geotechnical work. Besides these advantages of frozen soil, the volume increase of freezing water may lead to an undesired frost heave. In order to assess the frost heave in consequence of AGF, a material model developed in the framework of continuum micromechanics is presented. It accounts for the distinct matrix-inclusion morphology of frozen soil. On the basis of intrinsic material properties, such as the elastic parameters of the soil particles and the volume fractions, the material model provides access to the material function for the (macroscopic) phase-change (freezing) strain for fully saturated granular soils.

Keywords: soil improvement, ground freezing, phase change, homogenization, micromechanics