Rarely does ice exist in nature as a pure, single phase material. More often, it contains dissolved solutes as in sea ice, or entrapped particulates such as in frozen soils or interstellar ices. These impurity species modulate the ice microstructure and influence the resulting material properties. Recent years have seen great progress in 3D characterization of frozen materials, including soils, sea ice, and colloidal suspensions yet studies aimed at elucidating the microscale mechanisms by which entrapped particles affect the deformation behavior of ice materials are still sparse. A deeper understanding into the effect of particles on ice material properties will help to inform efforts to predict and interpret the strength of ice in cold regions.  This research addresses the structure and mechanical properties of a small set of ice materials formed with silica-based particles. By performing <i>in situ</i> compression with x-ray micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) at -10 degC, we observed microscale crack propagation during loading to identify the critical aspects of macroscale strengthening in ice by high aspect ratio second phase materials. With a focus on the effect of geometry (e.g., spheres vs. rods) on the compressive strength of ice, we performed <i>in situ</i> uniaxial loading with micro-CT imaging to track crack propagation during loading and elucidate the strengthening mechanisms operating in ice containing entrapped particles.

Interaction of colloidal particles with propagating cracks in loaded ice

2019 Fall National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.