An effective way to estimate the Poisson's ratio of silty clay in seasonal frozen regions

This paper advances the present understanding of the nonlinear characteristic of Poisson's ratio in seasonal frozen regions. The influence of freeze-thaw cycles, confining pressure and shear strain is investigated on the basis of extensive resonant column tests. It is demonstrated that the Poisson's ratio increases with increasing shear strain and decreases with increasing confining pressure. A new empirical equation is formulated to describe the strain-dependency of Poisson's ratio. With the fitting parameters, the influence of freeze-thaw cycles on Poisson's ratio is discussed. Based on the Hardin-Drnevich model, an effective method for estimating the Poisson's ratio in seasonal frozen regions is developed. It is found that the comprehensive effects of the parameters are adequately represented by maximum shear modulus, normalized shear modulus and confining pressure, which makes the method simple and facile for use.