ARTICLE
10 October 2025
Prediction of Frozen Soil Deformation Characteristics Using Fractional Derivative Creep Model
Zhiheng Tian
Show Less
1 Future City Innovation Technology Co., Ltd., Shaanxi Construction Engineering Holding Group, Xi’an 710116, Shaanxi, China; SCEGC-XJTU Joint Research Center for Future City Construction and Management Innovation, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710116, Shaanxi, China,
JARD 2025 , 9(5), 50–56; https://doi.org/10.26689/jard.v9i5.12134
© 2025 by the Authors. Licensee Whioce Publishing, Singapore. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

To investigate the temperature susceptibility and nonlinear memory effects of artificially frozen soil creep behavior, this study conducted uniaxial step-loading creep tests under controlled temperatures ranging from -10℃ to -20℃. The transient creep characteristics and steady-state creep rates of artificially frozen soils were systematically examined with respect to variations in temperature and stress. Experimental results demonstrate that decreasing temperatures lead to a decaying trend in the steady-state creep rate of silty frozen soil, confirming that low-temperature environments significantly inhibit plastic flow while enhancing material stiffness. Based on fractional calculus theory, a fractional derivative creep model was established. By incorporating temperature dependencies, the model was further improved to account for both stress and temperature effects. The model predictions align closely with experimental data, achieving over 91% agreement (standard deviation ± 1.8%), and effectively capture the stress-strain behavior of artificially frozen soil under varying thermal conditions. This research provides a reliable theoretical foundation for studying deformation characteristics in cold-regions engineering.

References
Zhao X, Zhou G, 2013, Experimental Study on the Creep Behavior of Frozen Clay with Thermal Gradient. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 86: 127–132.
Fish AM, 1983, Mathematical Models of Soil Freezing. CRREL Report, 83: 13.
Podlubny I, 1999, Fractional Differential Equations. Mathematics in Science and Engineering, 198: 41–119.
Wang X, Li D, 2020, Fractional Derivative Modeling of Creep Behavior for Frozen Soil. Mechanics of Time-Dependent Materials, 24(3): 287–302.
Yang S, Wang N, Zhang H, 2020, Study on Creep Test and Creep Model of Warm Frozen Soil. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 42(3): 834–842.
Song YJ, Zhang LT, Ren JX, et al., 2021, Triaxial Creep Properties and Model of Red Sandstone under Freeze-Thaw Environment. Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 43(5): 841–849.
Wang Z, Li J, Teng J, et al., 2023, THM Coupled Model for Simulating Frost Heave Based on a New Water Film Pressure Criterion. Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 45(5): 997–1007.
Share
Back to top