• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.555-565
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• 2018

Nowadays, the artificial ground freezing (AGF) method has been used in many geotechnical engineering applications such as temporary excavation support, underpinning, and groundwater cutoff. The AGF method conducts the freezing process by employing a refrigerant circulating through a set of embedded freezing pipes to form frozen walls serving as an excavation support and cutoff wall. Two refrigerants of brine with the freezing temperature of $-20{\sim}-40^{\circ}C$ and liquid nitrogen with the freezing (evaporating) temperature of $-196^{\circ}C$ are commonly being used in geotechnical applications. This paper performed a series of field experiments to evaluate the freezing rate of marine clay in application of the AGF method. The field experiments consisted of the single freezing-pipe test and the frozen-wall formation test by circulating liquid nitrogen, which is a cryogenic refrigerant, into freezing pipes constructed at a depth of 3.2 m in the ground. The temperature of discharged liquid nitrogen was maintained through the automatic valve, and the temperature change induced by AGF method was measured at the freezing pipes and in the ground with time. According to the experimental results, the single freezing-pipe test consumed about 11.9 tons of liquid nitrogen for 3.5 days to form a cylindrical frozen body with the volume of about $2.12m^3$. In addition, the frozen-wall formation test used about 18 tons of liquid nitrogen for 4.1 days to form a frozen wall with the volume of about $7.04m^3$. The radial freezing rate decreased with increasing the radius of frozen body because the frozen area at a certain depth is proportional to the square of the radius. The radial freezing rate was formulated as a simple equation.

• Proceedings of the KSEEG Conference
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• 2007.04a
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• pp.316-318
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• 2007

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.31-48
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• 2019

The artificial ground freezing (AGF) method is a groundwater cutoff and/or ground reinforcement method suitable for constructing underground structures in soft ground and urban areas. The AGF method conducts a freezing process by employing a refrigerant circulating through a set of embedded freezing pipes to form frozen walls serving as excavation supports and/or cutoff walls. However, thermal expansion of the pore water during freezing may cause excessive deformation of the ground. On the other hand, as the frozen soil is thawed after completion of the construction, mechanical characteristics of the thawed soil are changed due to the plastic deformation of the ground and the rearrangement of soil fabric. This paper performed a field experiment to evaluate the freezing rate of marine clay in the application of the AGF method. The field experiment was carried out by circulating liquid nitrogen, which is a cryogenic refrigerant, through one freezing pipe installed at a depth of 3.2 m in the ground. Also, a piezo-cone penetration test (CPTu) and a lateral load test (LLT) were performed on the marine clay before and after application of the AGF method to evaluate a change in strength and stiffness of it, which was induced by freezing-thawing. The experimental results indicate that about 11.9 tons of liquid nitrogen were consumed for 3.5 days to form a cylindrical frozen body with a volume of about $2.12m^3$. In addition, the strength and stiffness of the ground were reduced by 48.5% and 22.7%, respectively, after a freezing-thawing cycle.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.35-44
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to prevent spreading of contaminants from movement of underground water by creating a barrier using artificial freezing method on a soil contaminated by oils and various NAPLs. Specimens with 80% and 90% degrees of saturation were prepared to form freezing barrier using artificial freezing method. With increasing freezing time of freezing barrier, barrier was formed faster in the specimen with 90% degree of saturation by about an hour compared to the specimen with 80% degree of saturation. In addition, thinnest thickness of frozen barrier in both specimens was 50mm after 12 hours of freezing time, showing expansion of freezing area with time. The results of this study can be applied to barrier in waste reclamation sites and contaminated regions or to flow control of contaminants.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.401-412
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• 2016

It is extremely difficult to apply conventional grouting methods to subsea tunnelling construction in the high water pressure condition. In such a condition, the rapid artificial freezing method can be an alternative to grouting to form a watertight zone around freezing pipes. For a proper design of the artificial freezing method, the influence of salinity on the freezing process has to be considered. However, there are few domestic tunnel construction that adopted the artificial freezing method, and influential factors on the freezing of the soil are not clearly identified. In this paper, a series of laboratory experiments were performed to identify the physical characteristics of frozen soil. Thermal conductivity of the frozen and unfrozen soil samples was measured through the thermal sensor adopting transient hot-wire method. Moreover, a lab-scale freezing chamber was devised to simulate freezing process of silica sand with consideration of the salinity of pore-water. The temperature in the silica sand sample was measured during the freezing process to evaluate the effect of pore-water salinity on the frozen rate that is one of the key parameters in designing the artificial freezing method in subsea tunnelling. In case of unfrozen soil, the soil samples saturated with fresh water (salinity of 0%) and brine water (salinity of 3.5%) showed a similar value of thermal conductivity. However, the frozen soil sample saturated with brine water led to the thermal conductivity notably higher than that of fresh water, which corresponds to the fact that the freezing rate of brine water was greater than that of fresh water in the freezing chamber test.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.36 no.12
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• pp.17-25
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• 2020

The artificial ground freezing method is a ground amelioration technology that does not have a permanent effect on the ground. One of the key factors that determine the efficiency and design criteria of the artificial ground freezing is the groundwater flow. Therefore, in order to accurately evaluate the behavior of the artificial ground freezing, studies on the effect of water flow on the formation of ice walls must be preceded. In this paper, experimental and numerical analyses were conducted using only pure water to maximize the effect of water flow on the formation of ice walls. A hydro-thermal coupled model for freezing behavior was proposed and the accuracy of the model was verified. Through the numerical and experimental studies, the flow rate dominates not only the formation time but also the shape of the ice wall. In addition, this study proposes a method to indirectly predict the ice wall formation time, which is expected to be highly useful for a practical application where it is difficult to visually identify ice walls.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.29-34
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to prevent spreading of contaminants from movement of underground water by creating a barrier using artificial freezing method on a soil contaminated by oils and various DNAPLs. Specimens with 80% and 90% degrees of saturation were prepared to form freezing barrier using artificial freezing method. As the results of freezing specimen within soil bin with artificial ground freezing system, artificial contaminated soil cut off wall formed the thinnest wall after 12 hours. It is judged that this cut off wall will control the second soil pollution by intercepting expansion and movement of pollutants and DNAPLs within artificial contaminated soil cut off wall by underground water, intercepting inflow or outflow of underground water. Cut off walls formed by artificial ground freezing system had each other freezing speed according to degree of saturation.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.255-268
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• 2018

Subsea tunnel can be highly vulnerable to seawater intrusion due to unexpected high-water pressure during construction. An artificial ground freezing (AGF) will be a promising alternative to conventional reinforcement or water-tightening technology under high-water pressure conditions. In this study, the freezing energy and required time was calculated by the theoretical model of the heat flow to estimate the total amount of refrigerant required for the artificial ground freezing. A lab-scale freezing chamber was devised to investigate changes in the thermal and mechanical properties of sandy soil corresponding to the variation of the salinity and water pressure. The freezing time was measured with different conditions during the chamber freezing tests. Its validity was evaluated by comparing the results between the freezing chamber experiment and the numerical analysis. In particular, the freezing time showed no significant difference between the theoretical model and the numerical analysis. The amount of refrigerant for artificial ground freezing was estimated from the numerical analysis and the freezing efficiency obtained from the chamber test. In addition, the energy ratio for maintaining frozen status was calculated by the proposed formula. It is believed that the energy ratio for freezing will depend on the depth of rock cover in the subsea tunnels and the water temperature on the sea floor.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.43-55
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• 2018

AGF (Artificial Ground Freezing) method is a temporary ground improvement method which can apply to all types of soil with the purpose of high stiffness and low hydraulic conductivity. However, the groundwater flow and the heterogeneity of the ground increase the uncertainty of the ice-column formation which hinders the reliability of this method. The effects of groundwater flow and layered heterogeneity on ice-wall integrity by AGF method were analyzed using finite element analysis program for a coupled thermo-hydro phenomena in the freezing ground. Groundwater flow changes circular ice-column into elliptical shapes and increases the time required for the formation of ice walls. The previous theoretical formula overestimated the completion time of the ice wall and the critical groundwater velocity by neglecting the thermal interaction between adjacent ice-columns. Numerical results presented the corrected formula and verified the proposed equation for the dimensionless ice-wall completion time. In the layered heterogeneous ground, the thickness of the layer with higher hydraulic conductivity and its relative magnitude were found to be important factors in the ice-wall completion time and critical velocity.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.111-122
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• 2014

For accurate laboratory evaluations of soil deposits, it is essential that the samples are undisturbed. An artificial ground-freezing system is the one of the most effective methods for obtaining undisturbed samples from sand deposits. The objective of this study is to estimate the shear strengths and the characteristics of elastic waves of frozen-thawed and unfrozen specimens through the undrained triaxial compression test. For the experiments, Jumunjin standard sands are used to prepare frozen and unfrozen specimens with similar relative densities (60% and 80%). The water pluviation method is used to simulate the fully saturated condition under the groundwater table. When thawing the frozen specimens, the temperature is measured every minute. After the specimens are completely thawed, undrained triaxial compression tests are conducted using the same procedures as for the unfrozen specimens. During the triaxial tests (saturation, consolidation, and shear phase), compressional and shear waves are measured. The results show that the freeze-thaw process has minor effects on the peak deviatoric stress and shear strength values, and that the process does not affect the internal friction angle. The compressional wave velocity increases with increasing B-value to 1800 m/s in the saturation phase, but tends to remain constant in the process of consolidation and shearing. The shear wave velocity decreases with increasing B-value in the process of saturation, but changes velocity in accordance with the change in effective stress in the processes of consolidation and shearing. The compressional wave velocity has similar values regardless of the freeze-thaw process, but values of shear wave velocity are slighly lower in frozen-thawed specimens than in unfrozen specimens. This study is a preliminary experiment for estimating the shear strength and characteristics of elastic wave velocity in undisturbed frozen specimens that have been obtained using the artificial ground-freezing method.