Abstract Existing research on rock freeze-thaw mainly focuses on a single freeze-thaw process, while little attention is paid to the cumulative effect of cyclic freeze-thaw on rock mass joints. However, the accumulated freeze-thaw effects are precisely the leading cause of rock mass deterioration and damage in severe cold regions. This study aims to investigate the use of a novel laboratory testing method, i.e., membrane pressure sensors in the joint, to demonstrate the impact of cyclic frost-thaw on jointed rocks. With the sensors, the change of frost-heaving pressure in the joint under cyclic process is continuously monitored. The measurements indicate that under freeze-thaw cycles, the initiation of frost-heaving pressure is critical, which is followed by an explosion, stability, and ablation stages. In these stages, the maximum frost-heaving pressure is observed to emerge at the early stage of the freeze-thaw cycle. Based on the experimental observations, frost-heaving pressure evolution law and damage mechanism of jointed rock masses are analyzed. For example, the peak frost-heaving pressure increases exponentially with the decrease of temperature and decreases exponentially with the increase of freeze-thaw cycles. Also, the pressure has a positive linear relationship with the geometric size of the joint. In essence, the deterioration of freeze-thaw cycles on jointed rock masses is mainly due to crack propagation caused by the frost-heaving pressure.

中文翻译：

---

非持久性岩石节理的恶化：关注冻融循环的影响

摘要 现有岩石冻融研究主要集中在单次冻融过程，而很少关注循环冻融对岩体节理的累积效应。然而，累积的冻融效应恰恰是严寒地区岩体劣化破坏的主要原因。本研究旨在研究使用一种新型实验室测试方法，即节理中的膜压力传感器，以证明循环冻融对节理岩石的影响。通过传感器，连续监测循环过程中接头处冻胀压力的变化。测量结果表明，在冻融循环下，冻胀压力的开始至关重要，随后是爆炸、稳定和烧蚀阶段。在这些阶段，观察到最大冻胀压力出现在冻融循环的早期阶段。在实验观测的基础上，分析了节理岩体冻胀压力演化规律及破坏机理。例如，峰值冻胀压力随着温度的降低呈指数上升，随着冻融循环次数的增加呈指数下降。此外，压力与接头的几何尺寸呈正线性关系。从本质上讲，节理岩体冻融循环的恶化主要是由于冻胀压力引起的裂缝扩展。例如，峰值冻胀压力随着温度的降低呈指数上升，随着冻融循环次数的增加呈指数下降。此外，压力与接头的几何尺寸呈正线性关系。从本质上讲，节理岩体冻融循环的恶化主要是由于冻胀压力引起的裂缝扩展。例如，峰值冻胀压力随着温度的降低呈指数上升，随着冻融循环次数的增加呈指数下降。此外，压力与接头的几何尺寸呈正线性关系。从本质上讲，节理岩体冻融循环的恶化主要是由于冻胀压力引起的裂缝扩展。