Experimental and Numerical Study of the Uniaxial Compressive Strength of Ice with Initial Fibrous Pore: Effects of Temperature and Loading Rate

Abstract

Ice compressive strength is a key property for investigating the interaction between ice and structures. In this research, a digital image correlation (DIC) technique is developed to measure the complete deformation range of ice samples in uniaxial compression tests that were conducted at different temperatures and loading rates. This method overcomes the limitations of traditional deformation measurement techniques, such as low accuracy and single-point measurements. The ice specimens are generated with initial fibrous pores instead of sphere pores for simulation. This innovative method enables the shear and splitting failure modes to be captured, which are consistent with the test results in this research. The experiments and numerical simulations reveal that the compressive strength increases when the temperature decreases and the loading rate increases. In contrast, the maximum strain decreases with lower temperatures and higher loading rates. This research introduces a novel numerical simulation procedure to study compressive ice deformation and offers experimental approaches for real-time and noncontact measurement of ice deformation at low loading rates. In this research, several experiments are conducted at three different temperatures (−25°C, −30°C, and −35°C) and loading rates (1, 3, and 5 mm/min). The experimental observations reveal that varying failure modes depend on the strain rate. In addition, a correlation between the compressive strength, temperature, and strain rate is confirmed. In addition, this research investigates the application of digital image technology (DIC) for the real-time and noncontact measurement of ice deformation. The use of noncontact strain measurement technology overcomes the limitations of traditional deformation measurement methods. In addition, noncontact measurements could improve the precision and dependability of ice deformation monitoring and provide more accurate observations and a better understanding of ice behavior. In addition, it could be used in future applications in this field, which opens up new research possibilities concerning ice deformation. This new technique offers a valuable contribution to advancing ice deformation measurement research.