Measurement of the Fracture Toughness of Glacier Ice

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Author: Andrews, R.M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1985
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Bersærkerbræ; Greenland; Stauning Alper; East Greenland; glacier; Journal of Glaciology; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000006420; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000006420

Abstract Fracture-toughness testing of both fresh-water and sea ice has used specimen geometries designed for metals. These designs are too large and difficult to manufacture for testing material cored from a glacier. This paper presents an alternative specimen, a radially cracked ring fractured by internal pressure. Tests using this specimen on the Bersærkerbræ, a valley glacier in the Stauning Alper, north-east Greenland, gave a mean fracture toughness of 58 . This is half the value typically obtained by other workers in laboratory tests. The results are compared with other data and the reasons for the disagreement discussed.