Ice Sliding and Friction Experiments

Abstract

AbstractWe are interested in studying the processes of sliding of ice over a variety of rock surfaces with the object of determining an empirical relation for the basal shear stress appropriate for glaciers. The variables to be considered include: normal stress Ν, shear stress Ƭ, surface roughness r, sliding velocity V, temperature θ, water at the interface, and the presence of debris. The roughness is considered to be a function of two variables; the scale or wavelength λ, and the shape or slope of the roughness a / λ, where ais the amplitude of the variations of that scale.