Empirical Studies of Ice Sliding

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Abstract
An experimental programme has been carried out for studying temperate-ice sliding over rock surfaces with a wide range of roughnesses, for normal and shear stresses comparable to those expected under real ice masses. The limiting static shear stress for acceleration has been found to be directly proportional to the normal load giving a constant limiting coefficient of static friction characteristic of the surface. For a constant applied normal stress N and shear stress τ b, well below the limiting static shear, a steady velocity Vb results which increases approximately proportionally to τ b and decreases with increasing N and the roughness of the surface. For high normal stress the velocity becomes approximately proportional to the shear stress cubed and inversely proportional to the normal stress. As the shear stress increases acceleration sets in, which, for different roughness and normal loads, tends to occur for a constant value of the product τ b Vb . For some surfaces at high normal loads this acceleration was retarded by erosion. For constant-applied-velocity tests a steady shear stress resulted, which tended to become constant with high velocities, and which increased with increasing normal stress but with a reduced coefficient of sliding friction. The relevance of the results to the sliding of real ice masses is discussed with particular reference to the importance of the effect of the relative normal stress, above basal water pressure, to the sliding rate.

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