Comment on tc-2022-140

Abstract

<strong class="journal-contentHeaderColor">Abstract.</strong> We propose a closed-form analytical model for the mechanical behavior of stratified snow covers for the purpose of investigating and predicting the physical processes that lead to the formation of dry-snow slab avalanches. We represent the system of a stratified snow slab covering a collapsible weak layer by a beam composed of an arbitrary number of layers supported by an anisotropic elastic foundation in a two-dimensional plane-strain model. The model makes use of laminate mechanics and provides slab deformations, stresses in the weak layer, and energy release rates of weak-layer anticracks in real time. The quantities can be used in failure models of avalanche release. The closed-form solution accounts for the layering-induced coupling of bending and extension in the slab and of shear and normal stresses in the weak layer. It is validated against experimentally recorded displacement fields and a comprehensive finite-element model indicating very good agreement. We show that layered slabs cannot be homogenized into equivalent isotropic bodies and reveal the impact of layering on bridging with respect to weak-layer stresses and energy release rates. It is demonstrated that inclined propagation saw tests allow for the determination of mixed-mode weak-layer fracture toughnesses. Our results suggest that such tests are dominated by mode I when cut upslope and comprise significant mode II contributions when cut downslope. A Python implementation of the presented model is publicly available as part of the Weak Layer Anticrack Nucleation Model (WEAC) software package under <span class="uri">https://github.com/2phi/weac</span> (last access: 28 March 2023) and <span class="uri">https://pypi.org/project/weac</span> <span class="cit" id="xref_paren.1">(last access: 28 March 2023, <a href="#bib1.bibx55">Rosendahl and Weißgraeber</a>, <a href="#bib1.bibx55">2022</a>)</span>.