Consolidation of thawing permafrost embakments

This research Project has been funded by ETH Zurich to investigate the mechanics of thawing permafrost embankments. We proposed a simplified sequentially–coupled numerical approach implemented in a general purpose FE code. The approach initiates with a thermal step that accounts for heat transfer due to temperature conduction and phase change and continues with fluid-mechanical calculations of the hydromechanical behaviour of thawed soil with respect to large strain consolidation theory. The proposed method permits simulation of the temperature dependent thermal and mechanical properties of soils in an approximate manner and is intended to provide a reasonably accurate computational tool for the analysis of structures on degrading permafrost, allowing modelling of complex 3D geometries and boundary/loading conditions.