Dynamic mechanical behavior of ice with different cotton contents

Abstract

In order to study the dynamic compressive mechanical properties of hail, artificial ice specimens were prepared by adding cotton wool into deionized-distilled water. Dynamic compression experiments of ice specimens under different strain rates were carried out by using the Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB). Furthermore, based on finite element software LS-DYNA, numerical simulations were conducted to evaluate applicability of mechanical parameters of ice under impact load. The results show that the specimens have a secondary loading phenomenon under the action of stress wave, and this phenomenon is more obvious with the increase of cotton content; under a given content of cotton and low strain rate, the compressive strength of ice is increased with the increasing of the strain rate; under high strain rate, the compressive strength of ice with 0% and 0.3% cotton is maintained as a constant, but a discrete result is observed for ice with 0.5% cotton; when the velocity of impact bar is in the range of 1.35–11.83 m/s, the compressive strengths of the specimens with cotton content of 0%, 0.3% and 0.5% are 3.3 MPa, 4 MPa and 8.1 MPa, respectively. Beyond that, morphology analysis shows that the edge of the specimen is damaged during impact process and the flying velocity of fragments increases with external force.