Pressure of Crushed Ice as Mohr‐Coulomb Material against Flat, Axisymmetric Indentor

Abstract

The pressure exerted on an axisymmetric indentor by a thin layer of crushed ice modeled as a Mohr‐Coulomb material is solved approximately, resulting in a closed‐form solution that is shown to hold for plane strain situations as well. The pressure decreases exponentially from the center to the edge, and increases rapidly as the layer becomes thinner. Agreement with exact solutions is good, in special situations, where they exist. For large‐scale structures this solution is a possible model of ice pressure in the intermediate zones between the edges, where spalling occurs, and zones of high pressure inside the contact region.