Study on the Constitutive Equation and Mechanical Properties of Natural Snow under Step Loading

Abstract

Snow, as an important component of the cryosphere, holds a crucial role in the construction of polar infrastructure. However, the current research on the mechanical properties of snow is not comprehensive. To contribute to our understanding of the mechanical behaviors of snow in cold regions, uniaxial compression tests under step loading were performed on the snow. With the Maxwell model as the basis, different temperatures, densities, and loading rates were set to establish constitutive equations of snow. The changes in the elastic modulus and viscosity coefficient of snow with respect to three variables were investigated. The results show that the loading rate has no obvious effect on the elastic modulus and viscosity coefficient of snow. Both the elastic modulus and viscosity coefficient of snow follow an exponential function with respect to density, with an increase in density, resulting in a higher value. As temperature decreases, the elastic modulus and viscosity coefficient initially decrease and then increase, whereas no specific functional relationship between them was observed. Additionally, a new constitutive equation considering snow density is derived based on the Maxwell model.