Author(s): Lars Stehn

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Abstract: Fracture toughness tests have been performed on first year columnar and granular sea ice. The brittle fracture observed is discussed in terms of crack velocity and specimen size/crack length effects. Using the Short Rod Chevron Notched (SRCN) configura­tion, for which the initial crack growth is shown to be stable, and measured load-point displacements, preliminary crack growth velocities are found. The obtained value is, on average, a = 35ms-1, albeit with a large standard deviation. The result is discussed and together with visual observations from the crack surfaces it indicates that critical crack growth (which might be called stable) occurs with negligible generation of kinetic energy. The crack length effect studied on sea ice with grain sizes ranging from 1.6 to nearly 100 mm gave support to the previous finding, Stehn (1991), that the used specimen size is enough to satisfy small scale yielding conditions.

DOI:

Year: 1992