Thaw settlement of runways in permafrost regions under aircraft load
Xiaolan Liu, Yi‐Xiang Chen, Qingling Meng, Jinbo Song, Xianmin Zhang
Abstract
Thaw settlement is a major factor influencing deformation, subsidence and collapse, which poses a major threat to the aircraft safety. Therefore, a numerical model of runway structure in permafrost regions is established and verified by comparing with references. The evolution of thaw settlement, transverse non-uniform thaw settlement and thaw settlement mechanism are studied based on the verified numerical model with the aircraft load of A380-800. The evolution of thaw settlement shows that the influence area and maximum value of thaw settlements increase rapidly in the first five years and increase slowly over time. The thaw settlement is mainly concentrated in the subgrade, and gradually expands to the natural surface over time. The transverse non-uniform thaw settlement shows that the thaw settlement of pavement is smaller than that of natural surface at the same depth, and the differential thaw settlement at the pavement and natural surface becomes increasingly prominent over time. The mechanism of thaw settlement shows that the changes of temperature field affects the content of unfrozen water, thermal parameters and mechanical parameters of runway materials, which causes the thaw settlement of runway. This study provides technical support for the design, construction and maintenance of runways in permafrost regions.