Research on methods of ice sample preparation and mechanical properties testing for the polar study

The exploration of the polar region plays an important role in promoting our understanding of the origin and evolution of life, changes in the ecological environment, and resource acquisition. The exploration of the mechanical properties of ice cores is very important for polar exploration operations, and artificial ice samples are an important means to study the mechanical properties of polar ice. In this paper, an efficient ice particle preparation method is proposed to improve the preparation efficiency of artificial ice samples, that is, ice particles with a diameter of 100 ~ 250 µm are generated by using the principle of droplet atomization phase transition, and an ice sample with an average density of 0.901 kg / m ³ is further obtained. Through the unique design of heat insulation device and mica gasket method, the mechanical properties of ice samples can be effectively developed in the conventional mechanical laboratory at room temperature. In the temperature range of -5 ~ -45°C, with the decrease of temperature, the compressive strength gradually increased from 2.18 to 6.49 MPa , while the average flexural strength increases slightly from 0.963 MPa to 1.898 MPa. Loading rate has little effect on uniaxial compressive strength and flexural strength of ice samples. The validity of the ice sample preparation and test method proposed here was verified by comparing with the results of previous studies, which laid a solid foundation for further exploration of the mechanical properties of ice.