Propagation of a Plastic Wave in Snow

When snow is pushed very fast by a moving body a plastic wave is generated at the head of the body. If the velocity of the moving body becomes close to that of the plastic wave, the snow may exert a great resistive force against the body as predicted by Yosida. It is, therefore, very important to study the dynamic behaviour of snow at a high rate of deformation, such as takes place when a snow plough is used on the highway, a train runs on a railroad covered with snow, or an avalanche occurs. Hence, this study is concerned with the safety and maintenance of winter traffic and transportation, and also with the generation and propagation of an avalanche. In order to clarify the detailed processes of the deformation of snow at high rates, laboratory experiments were made by compressing snow at high speed. The propagation of a plastic wave through snow was observed by using a high-speed camera and a pressure-detecting device. Analyses of the data obtained gave the velocity of the plastic wave for various kinds of snow whose density ranged from 0.17 to 0.46 Mg m-3and free-water content from o to 17%, whereby studies were made into the dependences on the density and free-water content of the velocity of the plastic wave. When the impact velocity was 4.3 ± 0.2 m s-1, the wave velocity ranged from 5 m s-1for a new snow to 12 m s-1for a fine-grained, well-settled snow. The plastic-wave velocity in wet snow was, in general, smaller than that in dry snow of the same density. Changes in density and structure of snow associated with the passage of a plastic wave were studied and discussed. The pressure at the wave front was measured; values of 0.1-0.3 bar were obtained, these are of the same order as the value estimated from theoretical formulae. The plastic-wave velocity was also observed for a confined snow, which showed a larger velocity and plastic strain than an unconfined snow.