Author(s): S. J. Defranco; J. P. Dempsey
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: No Keywords
Abstract: This paper explores the physics of cracking in ice under uniaxial compression. Using a geometry known to produce stable crack growth in brittle solids, failure criteria are derived based on the energy balance criteria of fracture. The force that must be applied to crack this geometry is shown to depend upon the mode of cracking, on the fracture surface energy of the material and on the geometry and elasticity of the specimen. Experiments performed previously on PMMA verified that stable crack growth can be achieved with this geometry at cold temperatures (-10° C). Crack growth in seeded columnar ice, however, occurred incrementally. This feature is very interesting and important to both the implementation of suitable time-dependent fracture toughness tests and to the analytical modeling of crack growth in ice. This study therefore concentrates on the influences of specimen size, crack length, loading configuration and notch acuity on crack growth stability. Stability is expressed in terms of fracture energy. The applicability of compressive strength as a parameter to describe compressive cracking is also examined.
Year: 1990