Selection of Building Materials for a Thermal Insulation Layer of a Road

The aim of the research was to obtain the functional relationship for determining the thermal conductivity coefficient of materials used in application of a thermal insulation layer of the roads to prevent foundation soil thawing beyond the permitted depth. To achieve this aim, an algorithm of dimensionless solution was used for finding the Biot criterion and the Fourier and Stefan criteria functions. Simple engineering formulas allowing to quickly select the additional thermal insulation layer of the road structure with the required thermal resistance using the known Biot number were obtained. Variant calculations were done and their results are presented as 2D and 3D charts. It was shown that for the typical geocryological and climatic conditions of the permafrost area, the thermal conductivity coefficient of thermal insulation materials and thermal resistance of the insulation layer vary across a wide range and are significantly dependent on the permitted thawing depth of the road foundation. A convenient regularity for engineering assessments is observed: the thermal resistance of additional thermal insulation layer changes by a factor equivalent to the factor of change in the dimensionless thawing depth. Accordingly, the increase in permitted thawing depth can be considered proportional to the increase in thermal conductivity coefficient of the material when selecting the construction materials for the thermal insulation layer. For example, if the permitted thawing depth at a particular road section increases twice, the thermal insulation layer of an equivalent thickness can use a material with two times higher thermal conductivity coefficient. Considering that the physical and mechanical properties of the soil are not the same along the road length, the thermal resistance of the thermal insulation layer should be determined for individual road sections rather than for the entire road. Correspondingly, the materials used in construction at different sections of the road may also be different depending on the construction solutions of the road structure adopted by the project.

A.F. GALKIN, Doctor of Sciences (Engineering) (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.),
N.A. PLOTNIKOV, Engineer, Graduate student (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Melnikov Permafrost Institute Siberian Branch Russian Academy of Sciences (36, Merzlotnaya Street, Yakutsk, 677010, Russian Federation)

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