Author(s): Robert Gagnon
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Abstract: Rectangular thick sections (1 cm thickness) of lab-grown mono-crystalline ice have been confined between two thick Lexan plates and crushed at –10oC from one edge face at a rate of 1 cm/s using a stainless steel platen (1 cm thickness) inserted between the plates. The transparent Lexan plates permitted side viewing of the ice behavior during crushing and the visual data were recorded using high-speed video. An in-plane fracture occurs in the ice sample early in the tests and expands from the platen/ice contact area as load increases. Ice on one side of the in-plane fracture experiences shattering and pulverization while the ice on the other side remains intact but melts at the platen/ice contact where the pressure is high (~ 40 MPa). The continuous production and flow of liquid at high pressure in a thin layer at the intact ice / platen interface was strikingly evident and most of the load was supported in this zone. While some spalls did occur at the intact ice contact zone, cyclic spalling that normally occurs in ice crushing experiments was suppressed due to the unusual confinement arrangement. The crushing on one side of the in-plane fracture and melting on the other side occurred continuously at the nominal platen penetration rate for most of a test, however, when spalls did occur the relative platen/ice penetration rate was momentarily much higher due to the release of elastic energy in the system.
Year: 2004