Date Approved

8-29-2023

Embargo Period

9-6-2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

College

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering

Advisor

Cheng Zhu, Ph.D.

Committee Member 1

John Schmalzel, Ph.D.

Committee Member 2

Benjamin Barrowes, Ph.D.

Committee Member 3

Yusuf Mehta, Ph.D.

Committee Member 4

Gilson Lomboy, Ph.D.

Keywords

soil properties, frozen soil, electrical resistivity, cold regions

Subject(s)

Soil mechanics

Disciplines

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Abstract

Electromagnetic induction was utilized in the past by the United States Army Corps of Engineers as a method of detecting unexploded ordinance, while it has the potential to act as a novel method of investigating frozen soils in cold regions. In this study, we performed lab-scale 1D electrical resistivity measurements under freeze-thaw circumstances on frost-susceptible soils with varied soil properties. We implemented an empirical model from our experiments into a COMSOL finite element model at both laboratory and field scales to simulate soil electrical resistivity response under both short-term and long-term sub-freezing conditions. Dynamic temperature-dependent soil properties, most notably unfrozen water content, exert significant influences on the observed electrical resistivity. We also characterized the evolution of electrical resistivity during the freeze-thaw cycle with empirical models. Laboratory and field experiments were made to validate the effectiveness of the iFrost Mapper device in detecting typical patterns of metal, liquid, and soil samples of different concentrations and temperatures. The original data were processed by considering both inphase and quadrature responses. Meanwhile, simulation studies with similar parameters to the laboratory tests, including geometry, material properties, and physical conditions, and the samples were made in COMSOL Multiphysics to compare the analytical solutions and experimental data.

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