Effects of brine content on the strength of frozen Ottawa sand uri icon

abstract

  • Frozen saline Ottawa sand was tested in unconfined compression to establish the effects of the volumetric brine content, vb, on its mechanical behavior. Values of vb were computed from equilibrium phase relations for NaCl ice, and it was found that the failure strength, the failure strain, and the initial tangent modulus all correlate well with this parameter. The applicability of the equation f = o(1 - cvkb) in describing the relation between brine content and failure strength, f, is examined. This equation is often used to describe the failure strength of sea ice. It is found that the equation works well for saline Ottawa sand, but that the values of the constants o, c, and k depend on the assumptions made in fitting the data. 1985.

published proceedings

  • Cold Regions Science and Technology

author list (cited authors)

  • Pharr, G. M., & Merwin, J. E.

citation count

  • 15

complete list of authors

  • Pharr, GM||Merwin, JE

publication date

  • November 1985