The Structure and Tensile Behavior of First-Year Sea Ice and Laboratory-Grown Saline Ice

Tensile tests have been performed on first-year sea ice and on laboratory-grown saline ice at −10° C and at two strain rates, 10⁻³ s⁻¹ and 10⁻⁷ s⁻¹. The first-year sea ice was collected from the Beaufort Sea in April of 1983 and November of 1984. The laboratory-grown saline ice was grown unidirectionally downward by means of a cooling plate on an insulated tank. The ice was loaded both parallel (vertical orientation) and perpendicular (horizontal orientation) to its growth direction. The results showed brittle behavior at the higher rate for both orientations, but ductile behavior at the lower rate for the horizontally loaded ice. At both strain rates, both the tangent modulus and the tensile strength are significantly higher along the vertical direction. The structure and mechanical properties of the laboratory-grown ice were similar to those of the first-year sea ice, indicating that the laboratory ice is a covenient and economical material for studying the mechanical properties of columnar saline ice.