Temperature Dependence of Stress-Strain Properties of Freshwater Ice

We present the results of experimental investigation of the temperature dependences of the stress-strain properties of freshwater ice and pykrete. It is shown that, as the temperature of freshwater ice decreases from −1.0 down to −6.0 °C, the ultimate conditionally instant and long-term strengths of freshwater ice increase according to a linear law, whereas the temperature dependence of the viscosity coefficient is nonlinear. For a fixed temperature, the viscosity coefficient of the natural underground ice increases with its density and strongly decreases as the load increases.