Experimental Investigation of Uniaxial Compressive Strength of Distilled Water Ice at Different Growth Temperatures

The existence of ice in nature will threaten the safety of navigation and water operations in cold regions. In order to improve the knowledge system of ice strength, the uniaxial compressive strength of distilled water ice grown at different temperatures is studied in this paper. Distilled water ice samples grown at −5 °C, −10 °C, −15 °C, −20 °C, −25 °C, −30 °C and −35 °C are prepared in the cryogenic laboratory. The density and grain size are measured. The uniaxial compressive strength tests are carried out at −10 °C. The stress-strain curves and the mechanical properties and failure modes of ice are obtained by loading along the vertical direction in the strain rate range of 10−6 s−1 to 10−2 s−1. It is found that the uniaxial compressive strength of ice is a power function of strain rate and a linear relationship with the −1/2 power of grain size. Combined with the relationship between strength and grain size and the relationship between grain size and temperature, it is deduced that the peak compressive strength has a logarithmic relationship with the growth temperature. In addition, it shows that the growth temperature affects the strength of ice by controlling the grain size.