Thin-blade penetration resistance and snow strength

摘要: A thin-blade snow hardness gauge was developed that measures penetration resistance over a length scale (on the order of 10-100 grain contacts) relevant to fracture slab avalanches. thin blade chosen measure ruptures bonds and structures minimize effects compaction during penetration. The apparatus consists 10 cm wide, 0.6 mm thick stainless- steel attached digital push-pull gauge. Blade measurements are easy conduct in field laboratory required no post-processing or subjective interpretation. Measurements were conducted pits test rate, orientation width. index, defined as maximum force penetration, is highly repeatable across observers compared hand test. index better variable than density for correlating with tensile strength cold cohesive field. As one most important parameters mechanics avalanches, strong correlation between should benefit future slope stability evaluations using this