Floating sea ice plates and the significance of the dependence of the Poisson ratio on brine content

Abstract

This article investigates the influence of the temperature profile in ice plates on the plate characteristic coefficients for a dynamical theory of flexible plates that accounts for such effects as the variation of the Poisson ratio across the thickness of the plate. The mathematical solution of two simple problems is constructed, dealing with the response of an infinite plate on a Winkler foundation to static line loads and with the propagation of plane waves in a system consisting of a liquid layer and floating ice plate. The static problem is solved by means of the Green function technique, while the wave propagation problem follows the usual lines of harmonic analysis. Numerical results prove that the effects emerging from the dependence of the Poisson ratio on the microstructure are negligible for both fresh water ice and sea ice. On the basis of the plate theory, it should thus be extremely difficult to experimentally detect the dependence of the Poisson ratio on brine content for sea ice.