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Abstract Wind and snow erosion is due to the combined effect from the action of wind blowing，snow melting and temperature varying. The unprotected embankment filled with Aeolian sandy soil of the Inner Mongolia-Sue provincial highway located in the section of Sanggendalai in Xilingol League was studied in wind tunnel test. The characteristics of the soil porosity were analyzed using the optical microscope combined with the digital image method. The pore area ratio was defined and the quantitative analysis of porosity characteristics was conducted before and after the wind-snow erosion. The affected depths by the wind-snow erosion from the slope surface at the different testing layers were obtained. The relationships between the pore area ratio of each tested layer and the freeze-thaw erosion from the melt snow infiltration and the wind erosion were established. The measured results showed that the shoulder was most seriously affected，and the effect of wind-snow erosion decreased from the shoulder to the toe of the embankment. The maximum influenced depth at the embankment shoulder was found to be about 1/6 times of the model height. The pore area ratio at the embankment shoulder increased by 50.1% while the pore area ratio at the embankment toe increased only 30.7% after three cycles of wind-snow erosion. For the same erosion cycles，the structure damage due to the wind erosion on the embankment soil was shown more severe than the one due to the freeze-thaw erosion.
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Received: 15 September 2014
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2014, Vol. 33 
