Flexural strength of drifting level first-year ice in the Barents Sea

The AARI performed ice research work in the Barents Sea during the last 10 years (1996-2006). In the course of this work great amount of material was collected on flexural strength of drifting first-year sea ice (138 cantilever beam tests, many tests of small discs). Results of data analysis for level ice are presented in this report; this analysis was performed separately for the south-eastern and north-eastern regions of the Barents Sea. Influence of different ice characteristics exerted on the flexural strength is studied (temperature, salinity, brine volume etc.). Relation is analyzed between the full-scale flexural strength of ice cover determined by the results of the cantilever tests, and the strength corresponding to the tests of small specimens. As the most reliable method of ice flexural strength determination are the cantilever tests cut out of the entire ice thickness. However, these experiments are the most labor-intensive, so the trial was made to obtain empirical relations between the physical proper-ties of ice, strength of small specimens and full-scale flexural strength of level ice.