1. ERDC Knowledge Core
  2. Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC)
  3. Cold Regions Research Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) - (2/1/1961 - present)
  4. Publication
  5. Technical Report
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/11681/31442
Full metadata record
DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorCourville, Zoe R.-
dc.contributor.authorLieblappen, Ross M.-
dc.contributor.authorMelendy, Terry D.-
dc.contributor.authorBernier, Andrew P.-
dc.date.accessioned2019-01-22T20:56:39Z-
dc.date.available2019-01-22T20:56:39Z-
dc.date.issued2019-01-
dc.identifier.govdocERDC/CRREL TR-19-1-
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11681/31442-
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.21079/11681/31442-
dc.descriptionTechnical Report-
dc.description.abstractA first-of-its-kind snow runway for wheeled aircraft operation at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, demonstrated that robust structures can be made of snow that push the limit of what is known about snow strength and how to parameterize it. We conducted a series of laboratory tests to determine the links between snow density and snow compressive strength for very high-density snow structures. We constructed snow samples of varying densities to mimic the snow structures of the constructed runway and measured the resulting snow microstructural and mechanical properties. The goal of this work is to ultimately increase our understanding of the role of density, as an easy-to-measure parameter, in determining snow strength as it relates to snow construction applications (e.g., snow runways, tunnels, and foundations) and how to best quantify the relationships between microstructure, density, and strength of very dense snow structures. Our values for the mechanical properties compared relatively well with the compilation of past historical results. Based on our results, to a first order approximation, snow microstructure data can be used to help improve snow strength predictions. Important future work would focus on improving these snow microstructure-strength relationships to include the effects of meteorological forcing.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipEngineering for Polar Operations, Logistics, and Research Program (U.S.)en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Science Foundation (U.S.). Office of Polar Programs.-
dc.description.tableofcontentsAbstract .......................................................................................................................................................... ii Figures and Tables ........................................................................................................................................ iv Preface ............................................................................................................................................................ vi Acronyms and Abbreviations .....................................................................................................................vii 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Objectives ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.3 Approach ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.4 Prior Work ........................................................................................................................ 2 1.4.1 Snow runway development ...................................................................................................... 2 1.4.2 Snow strength as a function of snow structure ...................................................................... 4 2 Laboratory Methods ............................................................................................................................. 5 2.1 Snow-sample preparation .............................................................................................. 5 2.2 Microstructural characterization .................................................................................... 6 2.3 Compression testing ....................................................................................................... 8 3 Results ..................................................................................................................................................12 3.1 Stress-strain curves ...................................................................................................... 13 3.2 Microstructure evolution .............................................................................................. 18 3.2.1 Porosity during compression ................................................................................................. 18 3.2.2 Surface-to-volume ratio during compression........................................................................ 19 4 Discussion ............................................................................................................................................ 23 4.1 Comparison to published results ................................................................................. 23 4.1.1 Elastic modulus ...................................................................................................................... 23 4.1.2 Compressive failure strength................................................................................................. 24 4.2 Microstructural parameterizations of snow strength .................................................. 26 4.2.1 Density vs. min-cut parameterizations of strength............................................................... 26 4.2.2 Microstructure parameterizations based on density and min-cut ...................................... 28 4.2.3 Elastic modulus, yield strength, and unconfined compressive strength ............................ 28 5 Conclusions .......................................................................................................................................... 29 References ................................................................................................................................................... 30 Report Documentation Page-
dc.format.extent43 pages / 4.050 Mb-
dc.format.mediumPDF/A-
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherCold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (U.S.)en_US
dc.publisherEngineer Research and Development Center (U.S.)en_US
dc.relation.ispartofseriesTechnical Report (Engineer Research and Development Center (U.S.)) ; no. ERDC/CRREL TR-19-1-
dc.rightsApproved for Public Release; Distribution is Unlimited-
dc.sourceThis Digital Resource was created in Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat-
dc.subjectEPOLARen_US
dc.subjectMcMurdo Station (Antarctica)en_US
dc.subjectNSFen_US
dc.subjectSnowen_US
dc.subjectSnow--Microstructureen_US
dc.subjectSnow compressive strengthen_US
dc.subjectSnow mechanicsen_US
dc.subjectSnow pavementen_US
dc.subjectSnow runwaysen_US
dc.subjectSnow yield strengthen_US
dc.subjectYoung's modulusen_US
dc.titleMicrostructural characterization of snow compaction related to snow pavementsen_US
dc.typeReporten_US
Appears in Collections:Technical Report

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
ERDC-CRREL TR-19-1.pdf4.15 MBAdobe PDFThumbnail
View/Open
Show simple item record