The influence of edge effects on crack propagation in snow stability tests
The Extended Column Test (ECT) and the Propagation Saw Test (PST) are two commonly used tests to assess the likelihood of crack propagation in a snowpack. Guidelines suggest beams with lengths of around 1 m, yet little is known about how test length affects propagation. Thus, we performed 163 ECTs a...
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:7e87e7e6fdee4d939a73548312552305 2023-05-15T18:32:23+02:00 The influence of edge effects on crack propagation in snow stability tests E. H. Bair R. Simenhois A. van Herwijnen K. Birkeland 2014-08-01 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1407-2014 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/8/1407/2014/tc-8-1407-2014.pdf https://doaj.org/article/7e87e7e6fdee4d939a73548312552305 en eng Copernicus Publications 1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-8-1407-2014 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/8/1407/2014/tc-8-1407-2014.pdf https://doaj.org/article/7e87e7e6fdee4d939a73548312552305 undefined The Cryosphere, Vol 8, Iss 4, Pp 1407-1418 (2014) info envir Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2014 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1407-2014 2023-01-22T19:30:49Z The Extended Column Test (ECT) and the Propagation Saw Test (PST) are two commonly used tests to assess the likelihood of crack propagation in a snowpack. Guidelines suggest beams with lengths of around 1 m, yet little is known about how test length affects propagation. Thus, we performed 163 ECTs and PSTs 1.0–10.0 m long. On days with full crack propagation in 1.0–1.5 m tests, we then made videos of tests 2.0–10.0 m long. We inserted markers for particle tracking to measure collapse amplitude, propagation speed, and wavelength. We also used a finite element (FE) model to simulate the strain energy release rate at fixed crack lengths. We find that (1) the proportion of tests with full propagation decreased with test length; (2) collapse was greater at the ends of the beams than in the centers; (3) collapse amplitude was independent of beam length and did not reach a constant value; (4) collapse wavelengths in the longer tests were around 3 m, two times greater than what is predicted by the anticrack model. We also confirmed the prediction that centered PSTs had double the critical length of edge PSTs. Based on our results, we conclude that cracks propagated more frequently in the shorter tests because of increased stress concentration from the far edge. The FE model suggests this edge effect occurs for PSTs of up to 2 m long or a crack to beam length ratio ≥ 0.20. Our results suggest that ECT and PST length guidelines may need to be revisited. Article in Journal/Newspaper The Cryosphere Unknown The Cryosphere 8 4 1407 1418 |
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info envir E. H. Bair R. Simenhois A. van Herwijnen K. Birkeland The influence of edge effects on crack propagation in snow stability tests |
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info envir |
description |
The Extended Column Test (ECT) and the Propagation Saw Test (PST) are two commonly used tests to assess the likelihood of crack propagation in a snowpack. Guidelines suggest beams with lengths of around 1 m, yet little is known about how test length affects propagation. Thus, we performed 163 ECTs and PSTs 1.0–10.0 m long. On days with full crack propagation in 1.0–1.5 m tests, we then made videos of tests 2.0–10.0 m long. We inserted markers for particle tracking to measure collapse amplitude, propagation speed, and wavelength. We also used a finite element (FE) model to simulate the strain energy release rate at fixed crack lengths. We find that (1) the proportion of tests with full propagation decreased with test length; (2) collapse was greater at the ends of the beams than in the centers; (3) collapse amplitude was independent of beam length and did not reach a constant value; (4) collapse wavelengths in the longer tests were around 3 m, two times greater than what is predicted by the anticrack model. We also confirmed the prediction that centered PSTs had double the critical length of edge PSTs. Based on our results, we conclude that cracks propagated more frequently in the shorter tests because of increased stress concentration from the far edge. The FE model suggests this edge effect occurs for PSTs of up to 2 m long or a crack to beam length ratio ≥ 0.20. Our results suggest that ECT and PST length guidelines may need to be revisited. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
E. H. Bair R. Simenhois A. van Herwijnen K. Birkeland |
author_facet |
E. H. Bair R. Simenhois A. van Herwijnen K. Birkeland |
author_sort |
E. H. Bair |
title |
The influence of edge effects on crack propagation in snow stability tests |
title_short |
The influence of edge effects on crack propagation in snow stability tests |
title_full |
The influence of edge effects on crack propagation in snow stability tests |
title_fullStr |
The influence of edge effects on crack propagation in snow stability tests |
title_full_unstemmed |
The influence of edge effects on crack propagation in snow stability tests |
title_sort |
influence of edge effects on crack propagation in snow stability tests |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1407-2014 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/8/1407/2014/tc-8-1407-2014.pdf https://doaj.org/article/7e87e7e6fdee4d939a73548312552305 |
genre |
The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 8, Iss 4, Pp 1407-1418 (2014) |
op_relation |
1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-8-1407-2014 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/8/1407/2014/tc-8-1407-2014.pdf https://doaj.org/article/7e87e7e6fdee4d939a73548312552305 |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1407-2014 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1407 |
op_container_end_page |
1418 |
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