Experimental study of the shear strength of a snow-mortar interface

Abstract

Within the wide field of snow mechanics the shear strength of snow is paramount. In the scientific literature a wide number of experimental and theoretical works exist with reference to the progressive shear failure of snow-snow interfaces under different conditions of internal and external actions. On the contrary, to our knowledge, few studies are devoted to the shear behaviour at the contact between a snow layer and a solid stiff material, although this topic could have various fields of application (e.g., glide avalanches, snow removal, snow-structure interaction, etc.). Here, we analyze results of experimental direct shear tests carried out in displacement control on a snow-mortar interface at given conditions of temperature and sintering times. We additionally use the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion to represent shear strength along the interface both in failure and post-failure conditions.