Laboratory study on the frost-proof performance of a molecular vibration infrared Nano-thermoprobe (MVINT) embankment in seasonally frozen ground regions

Frost heave significantly affects the stability of embankment in seasonally frozen ground regions. Most previous studies focused on the investigation of the passive method for controlling or mitigating frost heave, but its effectiveness diminishes with time. Therefore, proactive method is proposed to address frost heave. In this study, a novel embankment with molecular vibration infrared nano-thermoprobe (MVINT) was designed. The performance of an embankment with MVINT and an embankment without MVINT were compared. During the freezing-thawing process, we monitored temperature, volumetric unfrozen water content and deformation fields. The results show that the MVINT significantly improves the temperature of the embankment. For the embankment with MVINT, its whole temperature is above 0 °C, while the temperature of the lower part of the embankment without MVINT is above 0 °C in the cold seasons. Meanwhile, the variations of volumetric unfrozen water contents for the embankment without MVINT are more significant compared to the embankment with MVINT at the same position. Furthermore, the vertical deformation at the road surface is significantly reduced for the embankment with MVINT. It is because the MVINT releases warm energy in the cold periods, which effectively reduces frozen depth and mitigates frost heave. Therefore, the MVINT could be used to control and mitigate the frost heave of embankment in seasonally frozen ground regions.