Heat capacity of dispersed rocks

Protection of automobile roads from negative cryogenic processes is a current issue to which significant attention is devoted in both scientific and engineering communities. In many cases important for practice, the the thermal factor determines the reliability and security of the use of the road in the cryolithic zone. The heat capacity of dispersed rocks is among the most important indicators of the physical properties determining the intensity of thermal processes in the road surfaces and road foundations. The precision of determination of the total heat capacity of the rocks in thawed and frozen state largely determines the precision of the forecast of the thermal regime of roads in the cryolithic zone. A complex assessment of the impact of ice content of the dispersed rocks on the value of total heat capacity was done. 2D and 3D charts which allow to assess the possible range of change in the heat capacity of the dispersed rocks in thawed and frozen state, in both a wide range and in the typical range of values, were produced. Among the main criteria determining the extent of the seasonal freezing and thawing of the soils of the active layer is the Stefan number, a dimensionless criterion. An overall assessment of the impact of ice content on the ground (rock) foundations of the roads and of the air temperature in the warm period of the year on the quantitative values of the Stefan number was done. Charts allowing to determine in both a wide and typical range the changes of values of the Stefan numbers, permitting to assess the possible range of changes of the Stefan number, were made. It was determined, in particular, that for the typical dispersed rocks of the road foundations in the cryolithic zone the range of change in the Stefan numbers is 2.1-6.5.