Estimating the full‐scale flexural and compressive strength of first‐year sea ice

Sea ice salinity, density, and temperature data were used to develop new methods for determining the bulk brine volume and porosity of sea ice floes. Methods for estimating full‐thickness ice sheet strength, based on large‐scale field tests, are presented. The relationships among bulk sea ice properties, strain rate, and strength are illustrated. A new constitutive equation was developed for predicting the full‐thickness horizontal compressive strength σ c of first‐year sea ice as a function of the applied strain rate and bulk porosity in the form where parameters B 2 , n , and m are about 2.7×10 3 , 3, and −1, respectively, and and ϕ B are the ice strain rate and ice floe bulk porosity of sea ice, respectively. An example of the first‐year sea ice indentation force against a 90‐m‐wide structure is given. Estimating sea ice strength based on remote ice conductivity measurements is also discussed conceptually.