Poroelastic Analysis of Partial Freezing in Cohesive Porous Materials

We revisit the poromechanics set up by Olivier Coussy for better understanding of the mechanical effect of partial freezing in cohesive porous materials. This approach proves to be able to quantitatively predict swelling even if the in-pore liquid does not expand when solidifying. In this case, dilation results from the so-called cryosuction process that dominates thermal shrinkage under cooling, as shown in our analysis conducted on the historical experiment run by Beaudoin and MacInnis (1974, “The Mechanism of Frost Damage in Hardened Cement Paste,” Cem. Concr. Res., 4, pp. 139–147) on benzene saturated 24-h old cement paste. Both mechanisms are also at work when freezing water saturated early age cement paste with air voids. In this case, the cryosuction process results in shrinkage and should be added to the thermal shrinkage, their respective amplitudes being temperature dependent but, a priori, of the same order of magnitude.