Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions ›› 2017, Vol. 9 ›› Issue (4): 343-351.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1226.2017.00343

• ARTICLES • Previous Articles    

Shear properties of thawed natural permafrost by bender elements

Feng Zhang1,2, ZhaoHui(Joey) Yang2, JiaHui Wang2,3, HaiPeng Li2,4, Benjamin Still2   

  1. 1. School of Transportation Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150090, China;
    2. College of Engineering, University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, Alaska 99508, USA;
    3. School of Civil Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150090, China;
    4. State Key Laboratory of Geo-mechanics and Deep Underground Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, Jiangsu 21116, China
  • Received:2017-03-05 Revised:2017-04-05 Published:2018-11-23
  • Contact: Feng Zhang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Harbin Institute of Technology. No. 73, Huanghe Road, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150090, China. Tel: +86-451-86282120; E-mail: zhangf@hit.edu.cn E-mail:zhangf@hit.edu.cn

Abstract: Thawed permafrost could cause a serious stability problem for foundations and oil-wells in cold regions. A non-damage testing procedure, employing the Bender Element Method, was used for permafrost samples collected from a continuous frozen core obtained from the North Slope of Alaska, USA. The wave velocity and modulus of thawed permafrost were investigated on various isotropic confining pressure from 0 kPa to 400 kPa per 100 kPa. The received shear wave propagation was recorded, and the elastic wave theory was used to calculate shear modulus. Finally, the shear modulus affected by confining pressure, water content and dry density were analyzed and discussed, and a regression formulation of shear modulus based on the Janbu Model for thawed silty and sandy permafrost were proposed and validation.

Key words: shear velocity, shear modulus, thawed natural permafrost, bender element

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