ISSN 2096-4498

   CN 44-1745/U

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Tunnel Construction ›› 2022, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (8): 1453-1460.DOI: 10.3973/j.issn.2096-4498.2022.08.015

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Deterioration Law of Organic Thermal Insulation Materials for Cold Region Tunnels under Natural Water Immersion and FreezeThaw Conditions

LIU Zonghan1, 2, HAN Fenglei1, 2, *, LI Jiazheng1, 2, HUANG Yong3, ZHANG Xuefu1, 2, GENG Yongqi1, 2   

  1. (1. State Key Laboratory of Mountain Bridge and Tunnel Engineering, Chongqing 400074, China; 2. School of Civil Engineering, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing 400074, China; 3. Xinjiang Communications Construction Group Co., Ltd., Urumqi 830016, Xinjiang, China)
  • Online:2022-08-20 Published:2022-09-09

Abstract: The physicomechanical characteristics and microstructures of the materials are examined based on natural water immersion and freezethaw cycle by laboratory tests, and the deterioration rates are compared to investigate the deterioration characteristics of organic thermal insulation materials (polyphenolics, polyurethane, and polystyrene). The findings indicate that: (1) The water absorption curves of the thermal insulation materials display three stages of fast, gradual, and stable. The polyphenolics have the longest water absorption duration at 192 h. After 50 freezethaw cycles, the bulk water absorption rate of polystyrene is the highest, reaching 67.50%. (2) The binary linear model predicts the relationship between thermal conductivity, freezethaw cycles, and mass water/ice rate for the organic insulation materials. The rigid polystyrene and the thawed polyurethane materials are most vulnerable to freezethaw cycles. (3) The polystyrene has the lowest thermal conductivity of 0.029 1 W/(m·K) without a freezethaw cycle. However, after 50 freezethaw cycles, the thawed polystyrene and rigid polyphenolics exhibit the lowest thermal conductivities, with values of 0.034 4 W/(m·K) and 0.047 3 W/(m·K), respectively. (4) The material with the highest compressive strength, measuring 0.476 MPa is polyurethane. The performance degradation of thermal insulation of materials is mainly affected by the bubble type, pore size, and pore fracture at the microlevel.