Flexural behavior of model sea ice in a centrifuge

An experimental program was devised for the production of saline ice sheets In a centrifuge and the determination of flexural strength and elastic mod ulus of this ice through in situ cantilever beam testing. A cold box, in wh ich dry ice acted as a heat sink, was used for this purpose. The ice beams were produced by lowering a heated brass frame through the ice cover. The l oad and beam deflections were recorded during indentation. The results of t his analysis showed that inertial acceleration did not affect the flexural strength of the thin ice sheets required for this type of simulation. The d ata obtained were consistent with previously published strength values for thicker ice. The effective modulus showed a dependency on brine volume and inertial acceleration. The values obtained are substantially lower than tho se from conventional 1g tests and increase with the level of inertial accel eration. This is attributed to the confining stress.