Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/T22964/01
Title:	Modelling Pre- Failure Shear Strain (solifluction) in Freezing and Thawing Soil Slopes
Principal Investigator:	Harris, Professor C
Other Investigators:	Cleall, Professor PJ Thomas, Professor HR
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:	University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS)
Department:	School of Earth and Ocean Sciences
Organisation:	Cardiff University
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 May 2005	Ends:	30 April 2008	Value (£):	385,411
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Ground Engineering
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Construction
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
Cold regions are characterised by deep seasonal ground freezing or by permanently frozen ground in which the upper few decimetres thaw in summer. Thawing of ice-rich soils leads to significant loss of strength due to high moisture contents and raised pore pressures, resulting in widespread accelerated soil creep (solifluction), and more localised shallow slope failures on periglacial slopes. Both may have major implications for the long-term serviceability of engineering structures. This project will utilize process observations in scaled geotechnical centrifuge modelling to constrain the formulation of new numerical models to predict styles and rates of solifluction. Existing numerical models of coupled thermal-hydraulic-mechanical (THM) behaviour of non-cryogenic soils will be developed to include heat and moisture transfer in freezing/frozen/thawing /thawed soil, ice segregation, frost heaving and consequent cryotic stresses within the soil. Numerical simulations of the scaled centrifuge physical models will be carried out using the initial and boundary conditions defined by the experimental work, together with previously determined soil parameters. Assessment of the numerical model will be via simulation of data from two field stations, one in Norway and the second in Spitsbergen. The numerical model developed will finally be applied in selected contexts to assess intermediate and long-term slope evolution under specified thermal boundary and soil conditions, firstly in discontinuous permafrost along the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) where solifluction is monitored, and secondly, to explore long term slope evolution over geological time scales. This research will provide fundamental understanding of complex cryogenic slope processes, and allow modelling of process rates and patterns both retrospectively and in a predictive context.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.cf.ac.uk