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Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 528 – 539

15th International scientific conference “Underground Urbanisation as a Prerequisite for

Sustainable Development”

Finite element analysis on 3D freezing temperature field in metro

cross passage construction
Haiqing Song a,*, Haibing Cai a, Zhishu Yao a, Chuanxin Rong a, Xiaojian Wang a
a
School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Anhui, China

Abstract

Artificial ground freezing has been widely practiced in construction of metro cross passage in soft ground. The ground freezing
process creats a frozen mass of improved compressive strength and impermeability, which will make the ground safely stand by
itself at the point of excavation and prevent cave-ins from happening. With this technique, freeze pipes are arranged like
stretchers of a half opened umbrella from two ends of the cross passage. Usually finite element analysis on transient temperature
field of frozen soil can simulate propagation process of frozen wall (frozen barrier) before construction and evaluate rationality of
freeze pipes arrangement. Usually finite element analysis on temperature field has been mostly simplified to the plane problem,
which is difficult to simulate the actual situation because freeze pipes are not horizontal parallel along the cross passage. In this
article, for one cross passage in Shanghai Metro Line No. 13, taking into account the initial conditions and boundary conditions,
such as such as ground temperature, ground surface convection and latent heat of phase change, a 3D finite element numerical
model is presented for the temperature field evolution. The modeling yields a detailed distribution pattern for freezing
temperature field. The results are compared with the in-situ monitoring soil temperature changes, which verify the reliability of
finite element numerical analysis.
© 2016Published
© 2016 The Authors. Published
by Elsevier by Elsevier
Ltd. This Ltd.
is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 15th International scientific conference “Underground
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Urbanisation
Peer-review as aresponsibility
under Prerequisite of
fortheSustainable Development.
scientific committee of the 15th International scientific conference “Underground Urbanisation as a
Prerequisite for Sustainable Development
Keywords: Cross passage, Artificial ground freezing, 3D freezing temperature field, Finite element analysis.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +86-15955487328.

E-mail address: haiqingsong80@hotmail.com

1877-7058 © 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 15th International scientific conference “Underground Urbanisation as a
Prerequisite for Sustainable Development
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2016.11.729
 Haiqing Song et al. / Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 528 – 539 529

1. Introduction

Nowadays, artificial ground freezing(AGF) is used worldwide for both mining and civil applications. AGF is a
process by which heat is removed from soil or rock to such an extent that the water held in the interstitial pores in
the ground cools to below the phase change temperature and turns to ice. So the soil will turn to frozen soil, under
the protection of frozen soil barrier, excavation of mine shaft, tunnel and subway cross passage would be safe,
especially in soft ground.
According to Chinese codes for exit routes in tunnels, cross passages linking two parallel tunnels should be
provided to ensure safety for commuters, in case of any eventuality. Cross passages are always left to be constructed
after other tunnelling works have been done. Usually the cross passage is laid in the middle of subway interval
tunnel, where is always the lowest point. And drainage sump is dug under the bottom of the cross passage for water
collecting and drainage. In water-rich soft ground, it is really difficult to construct cross passage without
strengthening the ground. Artificial ground freezing method is a proven technology for cross passage tunnelling in
soft ground with high water content during the construction of Shanghai Metro project. According to data
collection, 98% of cross passages of Shanghai metro tunnels were constructed with artificial ground freezing
method[1,2,3]. And ground freezing method was also applied to the construction of cross passages for other cities
like Beijing, Guangzhou and Nanjing, etc. [4,5,6,7]
Freezing temperature field of frozen ground is a complicated transient heat conduction problem with soil-water
phase change, moving freezing front, internal heat source and complex moving boundary conditions. Usually it is
difficult to derive an analytical solution for the temperature field, especially for three dimensional problem. In order
to safely control the construction of metro cross passage with freezing method, couples of boreholes are usually
drilled for temperature monitoring of frozen soil. And temperature data collected from the boreholes are used for the
back analysis of freezing temperature field. Through the back analysis, distribution of temperature field and location
of freezing front at one particular time can be approximately calculated based on stable temperature field
principle[8,9], which is not enough for predictive analysis of transient freezing temperature field before
construction.
Predictive analysis of ground freezing temperature field can simulate propagation process of frozen earth wall
before construction and evaluate rationality of freezing scheme. Because the drainage sump under the cross passage,
freeze pipes couldn't be placed horizontally but have to be placed like stretchers of a half opened umbrella from two
ends of the cross passage, which make the formation of frozen barrier at different cross-sections is different from
each other in thickness, merging time, heat extraction rate, etc. So the temperature field evolution of frozen wall
shouldn’t be simplized into plane problem like freezing method application in tunnel[10,11,12]. In the article, for
one cross passage situated in a certain tunnel section of Shanghai Metro Line No. 13. Before excavation, a three-
dimensional(3D) finite element model was established to analyze the distribution of 3D freezing temperature field of
frozen ground around the cross passage during active freezing period.

2. Project overview

Shanghai Metro Line No. 13 tunnel was constructed with shield machines with full-face excavation. Precast
concrete segments were used for the tunnel lining with an internal diameter of 5.5m, and 0.35m in thickness. The
elevation for horizontal centerline of upline tunnel is -21.104m and -20.967m for downline tunnel. Ground elevation
is 2.92m. And the distance is 14.416m between the centerlines of two separated tunnels.
The interval tunnel between Wuning Road station and Changshou Road station is equipped with one cross
passage, and a drainage sump under the bottom of cross passage is designed for water collecting and drainage
(shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2). The shape of the cross-section is straight-wall-top-arch, the section span of cross
passage is 3.2m, and the wall height is 3.16m.The primary lining for cross passage is steel support combined with
steel-mesh reinforced shotcrete of C25 class, and the secondary lining is a 450mm-thickness structure of steel
reinforced concrete of C40 class. Ethylene-vinyl acetate foam mat is laid between the liners for water proof.
The soil around cross passage is mainly classified as clay, silty clay and sandy clay. Clay is saturated and soft
with high water content, high compressibility, low strength and low permeability, combined with its properties of
530 Haiqing Song et al. / Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 528 – 539

high sensitivity and thixotropy, which make the clay extremely unstable. Silty clay demonstrate the property of
rheology. Sandy clay is unsaturated with high water content.
The optimum freeze-pipe configuration is shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. Parameters of freeze pipes are shown in
Table 1. There are 68 freeze pipes totally and all the pipes are classified to 19 groups with group numbers from D1
to D19. Freeze pipes use steel tube with inner diameter in 89mm and thickness of 8mm. Freeze boreholes are drilled
with different angle, most of the boreholes are drilled from the inside of downline tunnel. In order to achieve a
sound frozen state between segment and frozen soil, freeze tubes are attached along the inner side of the segments to
weaken the influence of heat exchange caused by tunnel ventilation. Brine is chosen as the refrigerant.

Table 1. Parameters of freeze pipes

Freeze pipe Total
Length/m Angle/° Quantity
group length/m
D1 4.00 24 5 20.00

D2 8.00 13 6 48.00

D3 12.50 6 5 62.50

D3′ 12.50 6 2 25.00

D4~13ǃD19 8.92~12.20 6~-34 2×11 216.10

D14ǃD17 8.30 -41 7ǃ6 107.90

D15ǃD18 7.00 -50 6×2 84.00

D16 10.00 -11 3 30.00

Total / / 68 593.50

Ground elevation ~ 2.92m

Ļ
Clay

Upline
Ļ Downline
tunnel
tunnel
Silty clay

Surface attached
freeze tubes

ļ
Silty clay

Centerline Centerline
of tunnel of tunnel

Ľ
Sandy clay Freeze
pipes

Fig. 1. Freeze-pipe configuration and horizontal cross-section of cross passage (Unit:mm).

 Haiqing Song et al. / Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 528 – 539 531

Downline tunel Freeze pipes

Surface attached freeze tubes

Horizontal
Horizontal
centerline of
centerline of tunnel
tunnel

Freeze pipes

Centerline of Centerline Upline tunnel

of cross
cross passage
passage

Fig. 2. Layout of freeze boreholes and freeze tubes on the segments surface of two main tunnels.

Freezing parameters for construction of the cross passage is shown in Table 2. The parameters were designed
based on geological and hydrologic conditions of ground, the mechanical properties of frozen soil at different
temperatures, and some other referenced projects.

Table 2. Designed freezing parameters of freezing scheme.

Number Parameter Unit Quantity

1 frozen wall thickness m 1.8~2.1m

2 average temperature of frozen wall ć -10

3 minimum temperature of brine ć -30

flow rate of brine in single freezing

4 m3/h 5.0
pipe

5 active freezing period day(s) 42

6 number of freezing holes / 68

distance tolerance between two

7 mm ≤100
freezing holes

allowable deviation of each freezing

8 % ≤1
hole

number of temperature-measurement
9 / 9
holes
532 Haiqing Song et al. / Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 528 – 539

3. Mathematical model of freezing temperature field

Freezing temperature field of frozen ground around cross passage is a transient heat conduction problem with
soil-water phase change. According to heat transfer theory and geocryology, the governing partial differential
equation of 3D freezing temperature can be written as[13-14],

wT w § wT · w § wT · w § wT ·
C ¨k ¸  ¨k ¸  ¨k ¸ (1)
wt wx © wx ¹ wy ¨© wy ¸¹ wz © wz ¹

where T is the soil temperature (ć) and t is the time (sec), C* is called equivalent volumetric heat
capacity(kJ/(m3·ć)), and k* is called equivalent thermal conductivity (W/(m·ć)).
C* and k* are also given by,

­ Cf (T  Tf )
°
° C f  Cu L
C ®  (T f d T d Tth ) (2)
° 2 Tth  T f
° (T ! Tth )
¯ Cu

­ kf ˄T  T f ˅
°

k
°
®k f 
k u k f
Tth  T f
 
T  T f ˄T f d T d Tth˅ (3)
°
° ˄T ! Tth˅
¯ ku

where kf and ku respectively called the thermal conductivity (W/(m·ć)) of frozen soil and unfrozen soil. Cf and
Cu are respectively called the volumetric heat capacity(kJ/(m3·ć)) of frozen soil and unfrozen soil. And Tf is the
freezing temperature (ć) of soil, Tth is the thawing temperature (ć) of soil. L is the latent heat of phase change for
one cubic meter of soil (kJ/m3).
And where the parameters of Cf and Cu are given by,

Cf U f c f , Cu Uu cu (4)

In the Eq. (4), cf and cu are the specific heat (kJ/(kg· ć)) of frozen soil and unfrozen soil respectively. ρfǃρu are
the density (kg/m3) of frozen soil and unfrozen soil respectively.
The initial condition of Eq. (1) is,

Tt 0
T0 (5)

where T0 is the initial temperature (ć) of soil.

In the mathematical model, each freeze pipe could be simplified into one line, so the boundary condition for each
freeze pipe is then,

T x
p , yp ,z p  Tc t  (6)

where (xp , yp , zp) is the Cartesian coordinates of each point on the line (freeze pipe), and Tc(t) is the brine
temperature (ć) of brine in the pipe.
The boundary condition for the soil, where is infinite distance away from frozen soil around cross passage, is
 Haiqing Song et al. / Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 528 – 539 533

given by,

T x f or y f or z f 
T0 (7)

On the ground, boundary condition of heat convection between atmosphere and soil is given by,

wT
k D1 Ta  T  (8)
wn1

where Ta is the atmosphere temperature (ć), n1 represents the vector of normal direction point to ground surface.
Cartesian coordinates of each point on the line (freeze pipe), and Tc(t) is the brine temperature (ć) of brine in the
pipe. D 1 is the coefficient of heat transfer (kJ/(m2·s·ć)) between atmosphere and soil.
So the governing partial differential equation, initial conditions and boundary conditions given above make the
problem of transient freezing temperature field of cross-passage's freezing process determinate.

4. Establishment of finite element model

4.1. Mesh generation

The finite element program ABAQUS is applied for the numerical simulation. In consideration of the influence
range of frozen barrier, a cuboid, whose dimension is 80m (length)h80m (width)h50m (height), was established as
the model (as shown in Fig. 3), after meshing, there are 30900 elements generated. The 8-node linear heat transfer
brick element (DC3D8) and 6-node linear heat transfer triangular prism element (DC3D6) are defined for the
generated elements, and there are 30360 DC3D8 elements and 540 DC3D6 elements. Detailed model of two main
tunnels and freeze pipes is shown in Fig. 4. And freeze tubes attached on the inner surface of segments are not taken
into account in the finite element model.

Fig. 3. Finite element model Fig. 4. Tunnel and freezing pipes model.

4.2. Material properties

As shown in Fig. 1 above, the soil around cross passage is mainly classified as clay, silty clay and sandy clay.
After in-situ sample drilling, soil samples are taken back to the lab to get the thermophysical properties of frozen
soil and unfrozen soil. Properties of density, thermal conductivity, specific heat and latent heat of phase change for
each soil type are all shown in Table 3.
534 Haiqing Song et al. / Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 528 – 539

Table 3. Thermophysical parameters of unfrozen soil and frozen soil.

Thermal conductivity Specific heat
Density latent heat of
/W/(m·ć) /kJ/(kg·ć)
Soil type phase change
/kg/m3 /kJ/kg
Unfrozen soil Frozen soil Unfrozen soil Frozen soil

Clay 1958 1.193 1.675 1.418 1.117 48.03

Silty clay 1964 1.071 1.677 1.507 1.047 49.00

Sandy clay 1837 1.350 1.520 1.524 1.231 46.93

Temperature range for soil phase change is from 0ć to -1.2ć, which means that the thawing temperature Tth is 0ć
and the freezing temperature Tf is -1.2ć. In the ABAQUS program, it need to define Liquidus Temp as 0ć and
Solidus Temp as -1.2ć [15].

4.3. Initial and boundary conditions

In the finite element model, soil's initial temperature T0 is set as 20ć. Parameter Tc(t) , which means the brine
temperature in each freeze pipe, is defined according to the in-situ measured temperature-time curve as shown in Fig.
5.
-14
-16
-18
-20
Temperature/ć

-22
-24
-26
-28
-30
-32
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Time/day

Fig. 5. In-situ measured temperature-time curve of brine.

On the top of the model, considering the heat convection between atmosphere and soil, atmosphere temperature
Ta is defined as 15ć, and heat transfer coefficient is defined as 732.2 kJ/(m2·s·ć) [14], which are the boundary
conditions of heat convection.

5. Results and analyses

5.1. Distribution characteristics of temperature field

During the construction of cross passage with ground freezing method, the actual active freezing period is 42days.
So in the numerical simulation, active freezing period is also defined as 42days. As shown in Fig. 6, four typical
cross-sections of A-A, B-B, C-C and D-D are selected to analyze the characteristics of distribution of 3D freezing
temperature field.
 Haiqing Song et al. / Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 528 – 539 535

B A C

Frozen soil

Centerline of
Centerline of upline tunnel
downline tunnel
Centerline of
cross passage
D D

Frozen soil

B A C

Fig. 6. Location of cross-sections.

Temperature contours after the soil is frozen actively for 10 days and 42 days are shown in Fig. 7 to Fig. 10 for
each selected cross-section.

(a) after 10 days' freezing (b) after 42 days' freezing

Fig. 7 Temperature contours of cross section A-A.

536 Haiqing Song et al. / Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 528 – 539

(a) after 10 days' freezing (b) after 42 days' freezing

Fig. 8. Temperature contours of cross section B-B.

(a) after 10 days' freezing (b) after 42 days' freezing

Fig. 9. Temperature contours of cross section C-C.

As shown in Fig. 7, Fig. 8 and Fig. 9, because the freeze pipes are not arranged horizontally parallel, which
means that the location of freeze pipes on different cross-section is not the same, so distribution of freezing
temperature field is different from each other, and the shapes of frozen barrier for the selected cross-sections are
also different from each other. The merging time for frozen barrier is 10 days, and after 42 days of active freezing,
the thickness of frozen barrier is enough for excavation. The soil in the central part of cross passage and drainage
sump is not frozen yet, which will reduce the excavation volume of frozen soil, so the arrangement scheme of freeze
pipes is reasonable.
 Haiqing Song et al. / Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 528 – 539 537

(a) after 10 days' freezing (b) after 42 days' freezing

Fig. 10. Temperature contours of horizontal cross section D-D.

Also as shown in Fig. 7, for cross-section A-A, after 42 days of freezing, the average thickness of frozen barrier
is developed to 2.4m, which is greater than the designed thickness of 2.1m. Because freeze pipes are more dense on
the cross-section B-B than on the cross-section A-A, so the development rate of freezing temperature field is also
much more rapid and leads to greater thickness of frozen barrier for cross-section B-B. As shown in Fig. 8, after 42
days of freezing, the thickness of the top of frozen barrier is developed to 4.2m, thickness of the bottom is developed
5.5m and 2.9m for thickness of side walls. For the cross-section C-C, freeze pipes are much more dense on the
bottom than on the top, so as shown in Fig. 9, after 42 days of freezing, the thickness of the bottom is developed to
7.8m, which is much greater than 2.5m, the thickness of the top. And the thickness of side walls is also developed
to 2.5m. So the results show that the average thickness of frozen barrier for cross-section A-A is the most small
compared with the average thickness of the other two cross-sections. It means that the cross-section A-A should be
regarded as the referenced cross-section for the design of frozen barrier. All the results show that, after 42 days of
freezing , the average thickness of frozen barrier around the cross passage is greater than the designed value, which
means that the freezing scheme of the cross passage is reasonable.

5.2. Results compared with in-situ measurements

During the construction of cross passage, nine temperature-measuring holes were drilled. Among the holes,
temperature-measuring hole No. 1 was drilled from the inside of downline tunnel, and No. 9 hole was drilled from
the inside of upline tunnel. Also as shown in Fig. 7, after 42 days of freezing, the average thickness of frozen barrier
is almost 2.4m, which is greater than the designed thickness of 2.1m. Comparison of soil's temperature-time curves
from in-situ measurements and numerical simulation are shown in Fig. 12 and Fig. 13.
538 Haiqing Song et al. / Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 528 – 539

18

In-situ measurement
15
Numerical simulation

12

Temperature/ ć
9

-3
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Time/day

Fig. 11. Temperature-time curve of No. 1 temperature hole.

10

In-situ measurement
5
Numerical simulation

0
Temperature/ ć

-5

-10

-15

-20

-25
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Time/day

Fig. 12. Temperature-time curve of No. 9 temperature hole.

As shown in Fig. 12, during the active freezing stage, the average fall rate of temperature for No. 1 temperature-
measuring hole is 0.54ć/day, and after 42 days of freezing, the measured temperature is fallen to -1.8ć, the result
of simulation is -2.4ć. Fig. 12 shows that the average fall rate of temperature for No. 9 temperature-measuring hole
is 0.55ć/day, and after 42 days of freezing, the measured temperature is fallen to -21.5ć, the result of simulation is
-18.9ć. All the results show that the temperature falling tendency for each temperature-measuring hole is consistent
between the simulation results and in-situ measurements, which means that the transient freezing temperature field
from numerical simulation could be referenced to the construction.

6. Conclusions

For the construction of metro cross passage with artificial ground freezing method, freeze pipes are not placed
horizontally parallel. Usually the freeze pipes are arranged like stretchers of a half opened umbrella, which means
that the freezing temperature field development is a complicated three-dimensional transient problem, and it is need
to clarify the reasonability of freezing scheme by the aid of finite element analysis.
 Haiqing Song et al. / Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 528 – 539 539

Location of freeze pipes on each cross-section of cross passage is different, which leads to the development and
distribution of freezing temperature field is different from each other. And the shape of frozen barrier for each cross-
section is also different. Merging time of frozen barrier is about 10 days. After 42 days of active freezing period,
formation of frozen barrier is perfect and the average thickness is greater than the designed value, which means that
the freezing scheme of the cross passage is reasonable.
Comparison of soil's temperature-time curves from in-situ measurements and numerical simulation shows the
consistence and it is reliable for the three-dimensional finite element analysis of freezing temperature field of frozen
barrier around the cross passage.

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