Behavior Under Cyclic Loading of Freshwater Ice and Sea Ice With Thermal Microcracks

The combination of thinning ice, larger waves, and damage due to diurnal thermal cycling motivate the need better understand impact flexing under action oceanic waves on strength thermally cracked ice. To that end, new experiments were performed freshwater, lab-grown ice first-year natural sea Both materials by shocking then subsequently cyclically flexed. Initially, cracks weakened both materials. When either origin was flexed fully reversed loading, its flexural strength, initially reduced stress-concentrating cracks, recovered non-cracked, non-flexed non-reversely, only partially. During cyclic flexing, region experienced alternately compressive tensile stresses. We suggest compression resulted in contact opposing crack faces followed sintering leading recovery. non-reversed did not recover. tendency for heal during may lessen their threat structural integrity an cover.