文章基本信息

标题：Subcritical crack propagation as a mechanism of crevasse formation and iceberg calving
本地全文：下载
作者：Jérôme Weiss
期刊名称：Journal of Glaciology
印刷版ISSN：0022-1430
电子版ISSN：1727-5652
出版年度：2004
卷号：50
期号：168
页码：109-115
DOI：10.3189/172756504781830240
出版社：Cambridge University Press
摘要：Recent investigations of crevassing on alpine glaciers and ice shelves have been based on linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM). However, LEFM is unable to explain some aspects of crevasse formation such as the initiation of crevasse propagation from crystal-scale (mm) microcracks, the slow propagation of large fractures in ice shelves, and the acceleration of crevasse opening before breaking of the ice terminus. Here another mechanism to account for these observations is proposed: subcritical crevassing. Subcritical crack growth, documented in many materials though not yet explored in ice, is characterized by a crack velocity that scales as a power of the tensile stress intensity factor, but is much less than that associated with critical crack propagation. This mechanism allows crevasse propagation from mm-scale microcracks at velocities much lower than body wave speeds, and explains crevasse-opening accelerations in a natural way. Subcritical crevassing is theoretically explored for several simplified situations but is limited by a lack of available data on crevasse evolution.