Fatigue of Sea Ice: A Wave-Induced Process of Rapid Self-Destruction

The overall goal of the proposed research is to better predict fracture of the ice cover on the Arctic Ocean and of attendant effects on the safety of ships and offshore structures used in the exploration and harvesting of oil and gas from beneath the ocean. Through this research a systematic series of experiments will be conducted to characterize and understand the fatigue of deformation. The experiments will be performed in Dartmouth's Ice Research Laboratory and will measure the effects of stress and strain amplitude, rate of cycling, temperature and salinity on the fatigue life of saline ice. The results will be useful in predicting conditions under which the ice cover self-destructs.