Compaction of the snow base of Vostok station wintering complex

The compaction of the snow base of the wintering complex under construction of the Russian Antarctic station “Vostok” is considered, which was required due to the unsuitability of the natural snow base for the perception of loads from the supports of the foundation of the wintering complex. Technical solutions were developed for snow base compaction on the basis of heating by solar radiation with the use of thermal mat and on the basis of snow vacuuming. The computational justification of the developed technical solutions was performed, which was carried out based on spatial finite element models using the computational software complex ANSYS. In this case, to substantiate the method of snow base compaction by solar radiation heating with the use of thermal mat, the calculated volume was analyzed, including the snow base zone, thermal mat and the space filled with air. When substantiating the method of snow base compaction by snow vacuuming, there was explored the calculation area for modeling the method of vacuuming for the hermetic volume of the excavation pit with immersed columns under the wintering complex foundation supports. The results of the of the calculated research have fully confirmed the assumptions laid down in the technical solutions for compaction of the wintering complex snow base by using of thermal mat and snow vacuuming

Effect of hydrophobization of airfield coatings on the consumption of deicing reagents2

The issue of reducing costs for the maintenance of airfield coatings is particularly important nowadays due to the increase in the intensity of domestic air transportation. A significant part of the costs of the operational maintenance of airfields is spent on the purchase of deicing reagents (DIR) used to protect airfield pavements from icing. There is a possibility to reduce the required amount DIR by using of hydrophobizing impregnations (HPI) for cement concrete airfield pavements. The assumption about possibility to reduce costs for DIR by using HPI was proven by laboratory tests on specimens of cement concrete slabs. In the course of laboratory tests the process of airfield pavement icing and de-icing was modeled. According to the results of experimental studies it was determined that the consumption of DIR for cement concrete slabs specimens treated with HPI was reduced by 35% compared to similar specimens without HPI treatment. For the economic evaluation of cost reduction for the purchase of DIRs, the costs of applied DIRs used at civil airfields of the Russian Federation were analyzed, taking into account their location in different climatic zones. The assessment has revealed that the cost savings for the purchase of DIRs can be up to 29.1 %