Thermal Conductivities of Remolded and Undisturbed Loess

Abstract

The thermal conductivity of soil is an important parameter in many engineering problems involving heat transfer, such as in ground source heat pump systems and freeze-thaw prevention projects. In these projects, not only must the undisturbed soils be accounted for, but the disturbed soils, such as the backfill, should be as well. In the present work, the thermal conductivities of remolded loess and undisturbed loess were tested. A model was then selected to predict the thermal conductivity of remolded loess. Finally, the thermal conductivities of remolded loess specimens were compared with those of their corresponding undisturbed loess specimens. The results showed that the thermal conductivities of the remolded loess and undisturbed loess were both increased as water content increased. The thermal conductivity of remolded loess increased as the dry density increased, but the thermal conductivity of undisturbed loess with a lower dry density was not always lower than that of undisturbed loess with higher dry density at a similar degree of saturation. The thermal conductivity of undisturbed loess was always larger than that of remolded loess when the two types of soils possessed the same degree of saturation and dry density.