EFFECT OF AMBIENT TEMPERATURE CHANGING IN SEASONALLY FROZEN ZONE ON TEMPERATURE FIELD OF INNER REINFORCED-SOIL RETAINING WALL

Cyclic variation of ambient temperature affects significantly the performance of geosynthetics-reinforced soil(GRS)retaining wall in seasonally frozen zone. Herein, on the basis of governing equation of transient heat conduction, the two-dimensional finite difference method is derived and used to analyse the internal temperature distribution of reinforced soil retaining wall under the consideration of solar radiation and convection. The accuracy of numerical analysis is verified by comparison with model wall test results. Furthermore, comparative analysis is carried out to investigate the effect of thickness of facing panels and pavement and wall height on the temperature field of GRS wall. The results show the temperature near boundary of GRS wall fluctuates with the cyclic variation of ambient temperature and is remarkably lagging behind the ambient temperature. The temperature variation inside GRS wall mainly occurs at the range of 3m adjacent to boundary. The temperature distribution tends to be regionalized significantly. The ranges of 0~1m and 1~3m distance from back of facing panels and the bottom of pavement correspond to the temperature sensitive zone and easing zone, respectively. Increasing thickness of facing panels or pavement would not affect obviously the temperature distribute characteristics, however, would make temperature inside sensitive area more lagging behind the ambient temperature. When reducing the wall height with the unchanged width in horizontal direction, the temperature gradient in horizontal direction is not influenced significantly, but it results in remarkable effect on the temperature gradient in vertical direction. The results in this study can pave a firm foundation for the future study of long-term deformation and stability of GRS wall.