EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON EROSION MECHANISM OF EMBANKMENTS SUBJECTED TO WIND AND FREEZE-THAW COMPOUND EROSION IN COLD AND ARID REGIONS

Wind-snow compound erosion is a combined effect of the wind, melting snow, and temperature in a natural environment, reflected in the interaction between wind erosion and freeze-thaw erosion. An embankment is subjected to wind erosion year-round, and suffered from freeze-thaw cycle erosion due to severe temperature variation driving snowmelt infiltration the filler in cold and arid regions. This research studies an unprotected embankment filled with Aeolian sandy soil located in a section of Sanggendalai in the Xilingol League, along the Inner Mongolia-Sue provincial highway. The shear strength variation of filler is analyzed before and after freeze-thaw cycles and wind erosion cycles simulated through wind erosion tunnel tests. A shear strength variation model is proposed for the characterization of compound erosion resistance. Wind and freeze-thaw erosion have different erosion mechanisms, and the influence of moisture contents on the filler is different for different erosion mechanisms. A compound erosion mechanism of wind and freeze-thaw erosion is presented through analysing the experimental results.