Roads are exposed to various degradation mechanisms during their lifetime. The pavement deterioration caused by the surrounding environment is particularly severe in winter when the humidity and subfreezing temperatures prevail. Frost heave-induced damage is one of the winter-related pavement deterioration. It occurs when the porewater in the soil is exposed to freezing temperatures. The study of frost heave requires conducting a multiphysics analysis, considering the thermal, mechanical, and hydraulic fields. This paper presents the use of a coupled thermo-mechanical approach to simulate frost heave in saturated soils. A function predicting porosity evolution is implemented to couple the thermal and mechanical field analyses. This function indirectly considers the effect of the water seepage inside the soil. Different frost heave scenarios with uniform and non-uniform boundary conditions are considered to demonstrate the capabilities of the method. The results of the simulations indicate that the thermo-mechanical model captures various processes involved in the frost heave phenomenon, such as water fusion, porosity variation, cryogenic suction force generation, and soil expansion. The characteristics and consequences of each process are determined and discussed separately. Furthermore, the results show that non-uniform thermal boundaries and presence of a culvert inside the soil result in uneven ground surface deformations.

Deterioration caused by frost heave appears as cracks, localized upward deformations,or longitudinal waves on the surface of road pavements. A multiphysics modeling approach is required to predict the performance of pavement systems under frost heave-induced ground surface deformations. This involves coupling a frost heave model with a material model describing mechanistic behavior of asphalt materials. In the current study, a thermodynamics-based viscoelastic-viscoplastic damage model is introduced and calibrated for a specific asphalt mixture through conductinga series of experimental tests. The model attributes the initiation and evolution of damage to viscoelastic energy. Simulating the frost action inside soil, on the other hand, is performed by implementing a thermomechanical approach. In this method, water seepage during penetration of freezing temperatures within soil is accounted for by incorporating a porosity evolution function. The presented framework for capturing frost heave-induced damage in asphalt pavements is applied in a study scenario where a road passes over a culvert embedded in frost-susceptible soil. The results indicate that using the proposed approach provides an opportunity to simulate the frost action inside the soil, determine the ground surface deformations, and capture the subsequent damage in theasphalt layer. Additionally, it is shown that increasing thickness of pavement layers above frost-susceptible soil significantly reduces uneven frost heave and, consequently, the damage within the asphalt layer. The study also reveals that  degradation of asphalt pavements caused by frost heave progresses at a notably rapid pace.

This study presents a mechanics-based framework for evaluating the performance of asphalt pavements subjected to annual ground surface deformations induced by frost heave and thaw settlement. Within this framework, a novel thaw settlement model is developed and coupled with a thermomechanical frost heave model to represent the heaving and subsequent thawing behavior of the soil beneath pavements. In the proposed thaw settlement model, excess water generated during the melting of ice lenses is introduced as a damage parameter within a continuum mechanics formulation, resulting in a reduction of material stiffness. The frost heave–thaw settlement model is further coupled with a thermodynamics-based asphalt damage model to capture the progressive degradation of asphalt layers. The capabilities of the proposed framework are demonstrated through two study scenarios: (i) uniform frost heave and thaw settlement occurring across the entire subgrade layer. (ii) non-uniform frost heave and thaw settlement localized within a specific region of the subgrade. The results show that the proposed framework not only captures damage in the asphalt layer but also predicts temperature distributions, ice formation, and water content during freeze–thaw cycles. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that uniform heaving and settlement cause relatively minor asphalt damage but lead to surface unevenness, whereas non-uniform frost heave and settlement result in both surface irregularities and severe damage to the asphalt layer.

This study investigates the structural response of an asphalt pavement constructed on frost-susceptible subgrade when subjected to the climatic conditions of Kiruna, northern Sweden. A mechanistic analysis framework is employed to assess the effectiveness of two different mitigation strategies aimed at reducing frost heave and thaw settlement-induced damage. The first strategy adopts a passive approach through the use of a polymer-modified asphalt mixture, which do not impede the penetration of freezing front but enhance the mechanical resilience of the asphalt layer. The second strategy represents an active mitigation measure, involving increased subbase thickness to reduce the downward propagation of freezing temperatures into the frost-susceptible soil. The results show that polymer modification of the asphalt mixture significantly improve the load bearing and deformation resistance properties of the asphalt layer, leading to a 20% reduction in frost heave-induced damage and about 25% reduction in thaw settlement-induced degradation. The results also reveal that, although increasing the thickness of the layers above the subgrade effectively limits frost penetration, insufficient lateral extent of these layers can amplify differential heave, ultimately exacerbating surface distress. In contrast, simultaneous increases in both the thickness and width of the protective layers substantially enhance performance, resulting in approximately 60% less frost heave damage and 50\% less thaw settlement-induced deterioration. These findings underscore the essential role of a comprehensive mechanistic framework in reliably evaluating the effectiveness of different mitigation measures against frost heave and thaw settlement in cold-region pavements.