%0 Journal Article %A LIU Wei-min %A HE Ping %A ZHANG Zhao %T A Calculation Method of Thermal Conductivity of Soils %D 2002 %R 10.7522/j.issn.1000-0240.2002.0134 %J Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology %P 770-773 %V 24 %N 6 %X Thermal conductivity of frozen soil is an important index for analyzing the thermal state of frozen soil under natural condition. Experimental studies show that water content, dry density and soil type etc. influence the thermal conductivity. The conductivity increases with dry density and water content increasing. For a new frozen soil engineering, a great deal of tests should be conducted to determine the thermal conductivity of soil in thawed and frozen states, especially for a large permafrost engineering, such as railway and road line. So it is useful to devise a simple method to calculate the thermal conductivity in order to save test numbers and cost. In this paper a method for easily calculating the thermal conductivity is given for different water contents and dry densities.A shape function, expressed with a saturation degree, is introduced in the calculating method for soils in unfrozen and frozen states. At the same time, dry density, saturation degree, equivalent thermal conductivity of soils which is obtained with high dry density without water, thermal conductivities of water (in unfrozen state or ice in frozen state) and gas, are considered in the method. The calculated values of thermal conductivities of frozen and unfrozen soils by the formula suggested in the paper are well consistent with experimental data, not only for changing water content but also for changing dry density. The formula for soils in unfrozen and frozen states is very easy to operate. %U http://www.bcdt.ac.cn/EN/10.7522/j.issn.1000-0240.2002.0134