Author(s): Qingkai Wang; Zhijun Li; Peng Lu; Bin Tan
Linked Author(s): Zhijun Li, Peng Lu, Qingkai Wang
Keywords: Sea Ice; Ice Mechanics and Properties
Abstract: A sea ice block was extracted through the whole thickness in the landfast area of the Prydz Bay, which was machined to small-scale samples for mechanical experiments. Three-point bending tests were performed at ice temperatures of −12 to −3ºC with force applied vertically to original ice surface. Judged by crystal structure, the ice samples were divided into congelation ice and snow ice. The results of congelation ice showed that the flexural strength had a decreasing trend depending on porosity rather than brine volume. While the sea ice effective modulus was independent of sea ice porosity and brine volume. Compared with congelation ice, the flexural strength and effective modulus of snow ice were much weaker. To provide a safe guide for the goods transportation on landfast sea ice in the Prydz Bay, the bearing capacity of the ice cover was estimated following the industry standard. For safe design, a more conservative prediction is preferred in practice. The lower and upper envelopes of flexural strength and effective modulus were determined based on sea ice porosity, and the bearing capacity of ice cover turns to be a function of porosity. For the area where landfast ice was extracted with congelation-ice thickness of 1.3 m, with loaded radius increasing from 2 to 10 m at a porosity range of 40–260‰, the level of load increases from 2 to 10 t approximately.
Year: 2022