Comments on “Analysis of the effect of freeze-thaw cycles on the degradation of mechanical parameters and slope stability”

Excerpt

The authors have addressed a very interesting topic regarding the influence of freeze-thaw effects on physicomechanical properties of granitic rock mass in cold regions. Overall, 24 samples were divided into 4 groups of 6 samples and tested under uniaxial compression after 0, 10, 20 and 30 freeze-thaw cycles. Results showed that with an increase in the number of cycles, uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) and deformation properties (elastic Young’s modulus) decrease. These conclusions were subsequently used to perform slope stability analyses by using MIDAS/GTS FEM software. One of the results of the study is related to the reduction of the safety factor value from 3.73 (for 0 freeze-thaw cycles) to 1.81 (after 30 cycles). …