Nonlinear Analyses for Coupled Problem of Temperature and Seepage Fields in Cold Regions Retaining Walls

Abstract

In this paper, a mathematical mechanical model and the governing differential equations of the coupled problem of temperature and seepage fields, with phase change, are derived from the theories of heat transfer and seepage. The finite-element formulation of this problem is then obtained using Galerkin’s method. Lastly, an illustrative example is provided. The example shows that the effect of seepage field on the temperature field of cold region retaining walls is large. The effect of this factor on cold region retaining walls should be taken into account in cold regions engineering design. Comparisons of the results of this approach with the measured data in the field have been made. The agreement is very good.