Crushing friction experiments on freshwater ice

A unique hydraulically driven friction apparatus has been used to measure friction forces on freshwater ice specimens against a steel surface under crushing normal loads at various temperatures. The friuction coefficient was found to be a decreasing function of increasing sliding speed and temperature and did n ot appear to be influenced by fabric, texture or the presence of bubbles. There was no correlation between normal load and the coefficient of friction. There was evidence that crushing friction has a higher coefficient than non-crushing friction, and possible mechanisms to explain this behavior are discussed. Periodic crushing was evident.NRC publication: Ye