Macro-micro correlation analysis on the loess from Ili River Valley subjected to freeze-thaw cycles.

The Ili River Valley in Xinjiang, China, is a typical seasonal frozen area where loess landslide disasters have become increasingly common during the freeze-thaw periods in recent years. This study analyzed the macroscopic mechanical strength and microstructure changes of the Ili loess under different freeze-thaw cycles (FTCs) through the post-freeze-thaw triaxial compression test on the unsaturated soil in laboratory. Apart from the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), the macro-micro correlation analysis and the cluster-principal component analysis were applied for the theoretical discussion.