DYNAMIC RESPONSE OF SNOW TO HIGH RATES OF LOADING.

• Main Author: Napadensky,H.
• Other Authors: COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER N H
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1964
• Subjects: *SNOW; MECHANICAL PROPERTIES; LOADS(FORCES); EXPLOSIONS; SHOCK WAVES; PROPAGATION; FLUID DYNAMICS; Greenland
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0600075; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0600075

An experimental investigation of stress-wave propagation in snow and ice is described. Seven types of Greenland snow were investigated to determine the extent to which the variation in dynamic response of the snow is a function of snow types, and were compared with results of similar Michigan snow experiments. A low-density explosive charge was detonated, sending a steep-fronted shock wave through a metal transfer plate and into the snow sample, compressing the snow and setting it in motion. Measurements were made on shock waves with amplitudes of less than 200 atm. Density and pressure behind the wave fronts were determined by simultaneous measurement of wave-propagation and particle velocity as limited by the fast elastic wave and the slow plastic wave of the two-front structure. Values calculated by the RankineHugoniot jump conditions determined the points at which the material behaves plastically or hydrodynamically. The maximum stable pressure-volume states that snow can reach under shock loading are also shown. Sources of scatter in the results from variations in snow type and errors in data reduction and geometry changes are pointed out. (Author)