Date of Award
2025
Document Type
Thesis
Terms of Use
© 2025 Noah Edgar. All rights reserved. This work is freely available courtesy of the author. It may only be used for non-commercial, educational, and research purposes. For all other uses, including reproduction and distribution, please contact the copyright holder.
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Engineering Department
First Advisor
Fiona A. O'Donnell
Second Advisor
Daniel Adeleke
Abstract
The uplift forces exerted on lightly loaded pile foundations through the heaving stresses developed in freezing soils can have a significant impact on the design and cost of the foundations for utility scale solar generation facilities. Since the adfreeze stress that exerts the uplift force is highly dependent on the soil type, a one-size fits all approach to this frost heaving behavior is ineffective. To solve this issue, a testing apparatus was designed that can be repeatedly used to more accurately determine the heaving stresses that will develop given a specific soil type. The testing apparatus uses the soil collected from the site and an environmental control chamber to simulate in situ conditions and determine the frost depth and the adfreeze stress. Utilizing this testing apparatus may help firms more accurately determine the loading experienced by the piles and thus help design them more efficiently, reducing the cost of the solar facility development. The designed apparatus was shown to successfully simulate in-situ behavior. Multiple physical simulation tests were run on a Silt with Sand (ML), and a strong relationship between the frost depth and the measured uplift force was determined. Using these results an adfreeze stress of 12.88 psi was determined, and its proximity to the expected 14.5 psiK[1] indicates that this testing approach may accurately predict in situ behavior.
Recommended Citation
Edgar, Noah , '25, "Frost Heave Physical Simulation Testing Apparatus" (2025). Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards. 961.
https://works.swarthmore.edu/theses/961
