Abstract
Unidirectional freezing experiments were carried out using a water-saturated porous medium made from micro-glass particles, in order to obtain the relationship between water content and formation of ice lenses. In the first experiment, we compared the thicknesses of ice lenses in the porous media with different initial water content and freezing rate. When the initial water content was high, thicker ice lenses formed. The thickness decreased with increasing freezing rate. In the second experiment, we measured the profile of water content in unfrozen areas. The unfrozen areas were divided into two regions, which have different type of water content. In the region apart from the growing ice lens farther than 20 mm, initial water content was maintained regardless of the ice lens growth. In the region extending from the vicinity of growing ice lens approximately 20 mm into the unfrozen areas, the water content became lower than initial water content. The water content decreased as the ice lens grew thicker. These results suggest that the local change of water content near the ice lens growth surface due to the growing affect the ice lensing mechanism itself.
