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The temperature is a critical factor that determines the unfrozen water content and ice content in the frozen soil. In view of mechanical properties of the frozen soil depend on the volume of components of the four-phase systems, thus the temperature has a significant impact on the mechanical behaviors and deformation properties. The thermal state of the embankment in permafrost regions has a significant seasonal difference, then the seismic performance of the embankment alters with the season. In addition, the seismic performance is highly influenced by the properties of the earthquake motion, especially the seismic intensity. Combining these factors, a numerical simulation was conducted in this study. In this study, taking a typical section of Qinghai-Tibet Railway as an example, a numerical case study on the seismic behavior of embankment was carried out using the dynamic explicit FEM code ABAQUS/Explicit. The El Centro excitation with different intensities was performed in numerical analysis and two distinct thermal states of the embankment in extreme cold and warm days were considered as well. The seismic behaviors of the embankment, including the acceleration responses, the strain response, and the displacement response, were studied effectively. This paper proposes approaches and methods to study the seismic failure mechanism of the infrastructures, and the results can serve as a scientific basis for resisting earthquakes and preventing disasters in cold regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermal insulation effect of snow on the active layer thickness of permafrost cannot be ignored. Under the dual influence of snow cover and roadbed construction, this paper studies the influence of snow cover on the temperature field and permafrost upper limit under the permafrost roadbed in the alpine mountains. Through the application of PDE module in Comsol software, the hydrothermal coupling analysis of roadbed is carried out by means of numerical analysis. The results show that the permafrost degradation is accelerated by the snow on the subgrade surface, the temperature increases significantly, the thickness of the active layer increases, and the permafrost upper limit moves downward. With the increase of seasonal snow thickness, the permafrost temperature under the subgrade increases, the low-temperature permafrost under the subgrade has the risk of changing to high-temperature permafrost. The melting groove is formed under the subgrade on the right side, and with the increase of snow thickness, the area of the melting groove expands and develops towards the center of the subgrade. Permafrost upper limit on the left and right shoulder is lower than that on the right shoulder, and snow cover has a greater impact on permafrost upper limit on the right shoulder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]