Freezing-Thawing Effects on the Physico-mechanical Properties of Ankara Grey Clay

The amount of snow that falls all through winter months and the number of days per annum with freezing temperatures, below zero in the eastern provinces of Turkey have increased in recent years. The Capital city of Ankara settled on a sequence of lacustrine sediments. The name of a part of sediments is Ankara Clay. Soil samples 1, 3, 7, 14 and 21 days were subjected to freeze-thaw cycles (FT). After tests, changes in the properties of the samples were examined. The liquid limit values of 14 FT cycles decrease about 31% and after that increase about 9%. A decrease about 12% for first seven cycles and continue increase about 11% in plastic index values were determined. The cohesion and internal friction angle increase about 37% and 10.5% in value after FT tests.