Experimental investigation on the tensile strength of freshwater freeze-bonds

The strength of the freeze-bonds between ice blocks has been found to significantly affect the strength and failure mechanism of ice rubble and ice ridges. Limited information on the tensile strength of freeze-bonds is presently available. A new testing apparatus and method has been developed to study the tensile strength of freeze-bonds under submerged, confined conditions as expected in natural ice ridges and rubble. A total of 30 experiments have been carried out to study the effect of normal confinement pressure and submersion time on the tensile strength of freshwater freeze-bonds. The confinement pressures ranged from 25 kPa to 100 kPa and freeze-bonds formed in 5 min to 3 h of submersion. The strength of freeze-bonds has been found to increase with the increase of the confinement pressure. The development of the tensile strength of freeze-bonds by submersion time was found to be similar to the development of the freeze-bond shear strength. Empirical equations for estimation of the freeze-bond strength as a function of confinement pressure is presented.