DAMAGE OF ISOTROPIC POLYCRYSTALLINE ICE UNDER MODERATE CONFINING PRESSURES

Abstract

An experimental study of the damage of laboratory produced granular ice has been started. Damage, defined in the present study as the change in the apparent elastic modulus resulting from the initiation and propagation of microcracks, has been determined. The tests, conducted under uniaxial stress and moderate confining pressures, used a constant strain rate input as the controlling feedback parameter in a closed-loop machine.