Estimating the effective elastic modulus and specific fracture energy of snowpack layers from field experiments
Measurements of the mechanical properties of snow are essential for improving our understanding and the prediction of snow failure and hence avalanche release. We performed fracture mechanical experiments in which a crack was initiated by a saw in a weak snow layer underlying cohesive snow slab laye...
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ftethz:oai:www.research-collection.ethz.ch:20.500.11850/619929 2023-07-30T04:04:33+02:00 Estimating the effective elastic modulus and specific fracture energy of snowpack layers from field experiments van Herwijnen, Alec Gaume, Johan id_orcid:0 000-0001-8931-752X Bair, Edward H. Reuter, Benjamin Birkeland, Karl W. Schweizer, Jürg id_orcid:0 000-0001-5076-2968 2016-12 application/application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/619929 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000619929 en eng Cambridge University Press info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1017/jog.2016.90 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/619929 doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000619929 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Journal of Glaciology, 62 (236) fracture mechanics snow avalanche snow fracture snow mechanical properties info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2016 ftethz https://doi.org/20.500.11850/61992910.3929/ethz-b-00061992910.1017/jog.2016.90 2023-07-16T23:48:53Z Measurements of the mechanical properties of snow are essential for improving our understanding and the prediction of snow failure and hence avalanche release. We performed fracture mechanical experiments in which a crack was initiated by a saw in a weak snow layer underlying cohesive snow slab layers. Using particle tracking velocimetry (PTV), the displacement field of the slab was determined and used to derive the mechanical energy of the system as a function of crack length. By fitting the estimates of mechanical energy to an analytical expression, we determined the slab effective elastic modulus and weak layer specific fracture energy for 80 different snowpack combinations, including persistent and nonpersistent weak snow layers. The effective elastic modulus of the slab ranged from 0.08 to 34 MPa and increased with mean slab density following a power-law relationship. The weak layer specific fracture energy ranged from 0.08 to 2.7 J m−2 and increased with overburden. While the values obtained for the effective elastic modulus of the slab agree with previously published low-frequency laboratory measurements over the entire density range, the values of the weak layer specific fracture energy are in some cases unrealistically high as they exceeded those of ice. We attribute this discrepancy to the fact that our linear elastic approach does not account for energy dissipation due to non-linear parts of the deformation in the slab and/or weak layer, which would undoubtedly decrease the amount of strain energy available for crack propagation. ISSN:0022-1430 ISSN:1727-5652 Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology ETH Zürich Research Collection |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
ETH Zürich Research Collection |
op_collection_id |
ftethz |
language |
English |
topic |
fracture mechanics snow avalanche snow fracture snow mechanical properties |
spellingShingle |
fracture mechanics snow avalanche snow fracture snow mechanical properties van Herwijnen, Alec Gaume, Johan id_orcid:0 000-0001-8931-752X Bair, Edward H. Reuter, Benjamin Birkeland, Karl W. Schweizer, Jürg id_orcid:0 000-0001-5076-2968 Estimating the effective elastic modulus and specific fracture energy of snowpack layers from field experiments |
topic_facet |
fracture mechanics snow avalanche snow fracture snow mechanical properties |
description |
Measurements of the mechanical properties of snow are essential for improving our understanding and the prediction of snow failure and hence avalanche release. We performed fracture mechanical experiments in which a crack was initiated by a saw in a weak snow layer underlying cohesive snow slab layers. Using particle tracking velocimetry (PTV), the displacement field of the slab was determined and used to derive the mechanical energy of the system as a function of crack length. By fitting the estimates of mechanical energy to an analytical expression, we determined the slab effective elastic modulus and weak layer specific fracture energy for 80 different snowpack combinations, including persistent and nonpersistent weak snow layers. The effective elastic modulus of the slab ranged from 0.08 to 34 MPa and increased with mean slab density following a power-law relationship. The weak layer specific fracture energy ranged from 0.08 to 2.7 J m−2 and increased with overburden. While the values obtained for the effective elastic modulus of the slab agree with previously published low-frequency laboratory measurements over the entire density range, the values of the weak layer specific fracture energy are in some cases unrealistically high as they exceeded those of ice. We attribute this discrepancy to the fact that our linear elastic approach does not account for energy dissipation due to non-linear parts of the deformation in the slab and/or weak layer, which would undoubtedly decrease the amount of strain energy available for crack propagation. ISSN:0022-1430 ISSN:1727-5652 |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
van Herwijnen, Alec Gaume, Johan id_orcid:0 000-0001-8931-752X Bair, Edward H. Reuter, Benjamin Birkeland, Karl W. Schweizer, Jürg id_orcid:0 000-0001-5076-2968 |
author_facet |
van Herwijnen, Alec Gaume, Johan id_orcid:0 000-0001-8931-752X Bair, Edward H. Reuter, Benjamin Birkeland, Karl W. Schweizer, Jürg id_orcid:0 000-0001-5076-2968 |
author_sort |
van Herwijnen, Alec |
title |
Estimating the effective elastic modulus and specific fracture energy of snowpack layers from field experiments |
title_short |
Estimating the effective elastic modulus and specific fracture energy of snowpack layers from field experiments |
title_full |
Estimating the effective elastic modulus and specific fracture energy of snowpack layers from field experiments |
title_fullStr |
Estimating the effective elastic modulus and specific fracture energy of snowpack layers from field experiments |
title_full_unstemmed |
Estimating the effective elastic modulus and specific fracture energy of snowpack layers from field experiments |
title_sort |
estimating the effective elastic modulus and specific fracture energy of snowpack layers from field experiments |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/619929 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000619929 |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology, 62 (236) |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1017/jog.2016.90 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/619929 doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000619929 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/20.500.11850/61992910.3929/ethz-b-00061992910.1017/jog.2016.90 |
_version_ |
1772816083316637696 |