• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.375-384
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• 2022

The glacial tills and shales in Midwestern states of the USA often show strength degradation after construction. They are often in need of applying soil modification techniques to remediate their strength degradation with weathering process. This study investigated the weathering durability of these natural soils and biopolymer treated soils by comparing direct shear test results for wet-dry and wet-freeze-thaw-dry cycled specimens. The tests showed that untreated glacial tills maintained only 62% and 50% initial shear strength after eight wet-dry cycles and eight wet-freeze-thaw-dry cycles, respectively. These untreated soils could not withstand by themselves after 16 weathering cycles. The same soils treated with 1.5% (by dry weight) food-grade Xanthan gum maintained 140% and 88% initial shear strength of untreated soils after 16 weathering cycles for wet-dry cycles and wet-freeze-thaw-dry cycles, respectively. The same soils treated with 1.5% (by dry weight) Gellan gum maintained 82% and 60% initial shear strength of untreated ones after 16 weathering cycles, respectively. Similar results were obtained for crushed shales, manifesting that the biopolymerization method may be adopted as a new eco-friendly method to enhance the weathering durability of these problematic soils of glacial tills and shales.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.269-276
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• 2023

In order to study the effect of rubber particle size and admixture on the frost resistance of self-compacting concrete, three self-compacting concrete specimens with equal volume replacement of fine aggregate by rubber particles of different particle sizes were prepared, while conventional self-compacting concrete was made as a comparison specimen. The degradation law of rubber aggregate self-compacted concrete under freeze-thaw cycles was investigated by fast-freezing method test. The results show that the rubber aggregate has some influence on the mechanical properties and freeze-thaw durability of the self-compacting concrete. With the increase of rubber aggregate, the compressive strength of self-compacting concrete gradually decreases, and the smaller the rubber aggregate particle size is, the smaller the effect on the compressive strength of the matrix; rubber aggregate can improve the frost resistance of self-compacting concrete, and the smaller the rubber particle size is, the more obvious the effect on the improvement of the frost resistance of the matrix under the same dosage. Through the research of this paper, it is recommended to use 60~80 purpose rubber aggregate and the substitution rate of 10% is chosen as the best effect.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.281-283
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• 2005

Water management in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells(PEMFCs) is one of the most challenging issues. Freeze start-up in the automotive applications is also important research topic in the PEMFC field. Transportation of proton and separation of reactant gases are main roles of polymer electrolyte membranes. It has been known that water in the membrane conducts as a vehicle for the proton transportation. At sub-zero temperature, the frozen water blocks the access of reactant gases to the active sites of electrode as well as occurs the physical destruction of fuel cell structures. In this study, property changes of electrolyte membranes in the freeze conditions $(at\;-25^{\circ}C)$ were investigated. For the various amount of water contained membranes, the property changes, especially for the proton conductivity, were observed after several times of freeze/thaw$(-25\~80^{\circ}C)$ cycle.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.1499-1508
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• 2013

Freeze-thaw tests were performed on gneiss samples collected from Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica in order to examine the engineering properties of rocks with slightly weathered (SW) and moderately weathered (MW). The tests were conducted under temperature ranging from $20{\pm}2^{\circ}C$ to $-20{\pm}2^{\circ}C$. A cycle of test consisted of 5 hours of freezing followed by another 5 hours of thawing under full saturation. In this paper, total 200 cycles of freeze-thaw test were performed with measurements of porosity, absorption, ultrasonic velocity, and shore hardness per each 20 cycle and that of uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) per each 50 cycle. The UCS of the SW rocks approximately decreased 0.07 MPa per a single cycle, while that of MW rocks decreased around 0.2 MPa per a single cycle. During the 200 cycles of SW rocks, the absorption increased from 0.23% to 0.39%, the P-wave velocity decreased from 4,054 m/s to 3,227 m/s and S-wave velocity decreased from 2,519 m/s to 2,079 m/s. Similarly, those of MW rocks changed from 0.65% to 1.6%, 3,207 m/s to 2,133 m/s and 2,028 m/s to 1,357 m/s. In conclusion, it was inferred that the properties of SW rocks experienced approximately 200-300 cycles of freeze-thaw process become close to those of MW rocks.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.128-135
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• 2016

In the current concrete structure of the highway is still the major problem most of concrete deterioration caused by the freeze-thaw and deicing salt, which is of issues that are not completely resolved. In particular, a single freezing event does not cause much harm, durability of concrete under multi-deterioration environment by repeated freeze-thaw and deicing salt is rapidly degraded and reduce its service life. In this study, the exposure environmental condition according the regional highway points were established. The damage condition and chloride content of the concrete at general and severe environmental exposure condition were also investigated. In addition, the experimental test of chloride ion permeability, scaling resistant and freeze-thaw resistance were carried out to improve the durability of the mechanical placing concrete of subsidiary structure. According to the results of this study, in observation of concrete surface condition, the concrete exposed by severe environmental condition showed broad ranges of damage with high chloride contents. Meanwhile, the water-binder(W/B) ratio and the less water content, and fly ash concrete than the specified existing mix proportion is significantly improved the durability. Also, the optimal mix proportion derived for test is satisfied the strength and air contents, water-binder ratio, and durability criteria of concrete specifications, as well as service life seems greatly improved.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.86-94
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• 2020

When the Superabsorbent Polymer (SAP) is added into concrete, the slump decreases rapidly, deteriorating the workability, the internal curing effect can be obtained through the water absorption and discharge process, and the internal voids of the concrete are increased. In this study, the effects of internal curing and voids were evaluated by evaluating the compressive strength, freeze-thaw resistance, and chloride penetration resistance of SAP-adding concrete that secured workability using a water reducing agent. Also, the internal curing effect of SAP was evaluated by dividing the curing conditions of concrete into water curing and sealed curing. From the result, as the SAP adding ratio increased, the amount of water reducing agent increased, and as for the compressive strength, the SAP adding ratio of 1.5% showed the greatest compressive strength. In particular, in the case of sealed curing showed higher compressive strength than the water curing. It is considered that the compressive strength increased due to the reduction of the effective water-cement ratio and the internal curing effect. Adding 1.0~1.5% of SAP improved the freeze-thaw resistance similar to the case of adding the AE agent, and the addition of more than 1.0% of SAP improved the chloride penetration resistance. The optimal adding ratio of SAP is 1.5%, and the adding ratio of 2.0% or more adversely affects the compressive strength and freeze-thaw resistance.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.45-51
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• 2009

A probabilistic approach may be adopted to predict freeze and thaw depths to account for the variability of (1) material properties, and (2) contemporary and future surface energy input parameters(e.g. air temperatures, cloud cover, snow cover) predicted with global climate models. To illustrate the probabilistic approach, an example of the predicted of thaw depths in cold regions is considered. More specifically, the Stefan equation is used together with the Monte Carlo simulation technique to make a probabilistic prediction of thaw penetration. The simulation results indicate that the variability in material properties, surface energy input parameters and temperature data can lead to significant uncertainty in predicting thaw penetration.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.271-281
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• 2013

Freeze-thaw experiments were conducted to evaluate changes in surface roughness and physical properties in samples of granite from Ilgwang and Imki mines, Korea. The temperature range in the experiments was $-20^{\circ}C$ to $40^{\circ}C$, based on typical summer and winter temperatures in Korea, and the surface was observed every 20 cycles. One cycle comprised 1 hour of heating or cooling of the samples and 1 hour during which the target temperature was maintained. With increasing repetitions of the freeze-thaw experiment, porosity increased by 0.05%-0.15% in the two samples and the dry weight increased, whereas the volume of the soil and saturation weight decreased. Observations by confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) revealed that line and surface roughness parameters showed a tendency to increase and decrease, respectively, with elapsed time. Changes in surface roughness were apparent on the CLSM images.

• Journal of The Geomorphological Association of Korea
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.47-65
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• 2018

Frost shattering has traditionally been considered as one of the most effective process in rock weathering. Each slab specimens of five or six rhyolite, basalt and tuff was prepared and put in freeze-thaw cycles and repeated 300 times in the temperature of $-25^{\circ}C$ to $+30^{\circ}C$ and their weathering patterns and products were analyzed by surface observation, particle size, XRD and thin section. As the result, some changes were observed in weathering patterns and weathering products. Rock shattering was more active in waterlogging rather than atmospheric conditions, but there are many differences depending on the type of rock. Rhyolite is hardly weathered by 300 times freeze-thaw cycles and generates the least amount of weathering products. Weathering of Basalt is limited to the surface layer where water can be absorbed, and produces a few amount of platy-shape debris. Tuff are separated by blocky structure which the particles are aggregated along their edges rather than enlarged existing cracks/joins or generated new joints.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.177-182
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• 2018

Objective: To investigate the effects of in vitro myo-inositol (Myo-Ins) supplementation of cryopreserved human semen on the cryo-survival rate (CSR). Methods: Semen samples were obtained from 41 infertile men. Following routine semen analysis, each sample was divided into two equal aliquots (0.5 mL each). One aliquot was treated with 1 mg of Myo-Ins dissolved in $10{\mu}L$ of sperm preparation medium. The second aliquot was treated with $10{\mu}L$ of the same medium (control). Both aliquots were incubated for 20 minutes prior to freezing to slow the freezing process. The frozen samples were examined for post-thaw percentages of total motility (TM), progressive motility (PM), and the CSR, defined as the percentage of post-thaw TM divided by the percentage of pre-freeze TM and multiplied in 100. The results were expressed as median and interquartile range (25th and 75th percentiles). Results: The pre-freeze TM (50% [30%-50%]) and PM (35% [20%-35%]) were significantly higher than the post-thaw TM and PM in the MyoIns group (15% [10%-35%] and 10% [5%-20%]; p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively) and the control group (10% [6%-30%] and 5% [3%-15%]; p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively). The CSR of the 41 semen aliquots supplemented with Myo-Ins (40% [25%-70%]) was significantly higher than that of the control samples (30% [13%-58%], p=0.041). The CSR of the 26 abnormal semen samples that were supplemented with Myo-Ins (38% [20%-50%]) was significantly higher than that of the control samples (23% [12%-30%], p=0.031). Conclusion: In vitro Myo-Ins supplementation of ejaculated human sperm from infertile men resulted in a significant increase in the CSR in samples with abnormal pre-freeze sperm parameters.