A finite difference scheme to solve one-dimensional problems associated with soil freezing and thawing

A finite difference scheme, which can be easily used for PC-programming to solve one-dimensional problems associated with soil freezing and thawing is presented. The method takes into account the real phase equilibria in the soil-water system, thereby being better interpretable both physically and in terms of soil mechanics. Some special computational procedures have been given, among them those relating to the crossing the freezing point and to determining the initial temperature distribution.