Author(s): Jinpei Li; Qingkai Wang; Peng Lu; Zhijun Li; Jinzhao Li

Linked Author(s): Zhijun Li, Peng Lu, Qingkai Wang

Keywords: Uniaxial compressive strength; Crack formation; Pore characteristics; Sea ice; DEM

Abstract: In this study, a calibrated discrete element model was established using the Particle Flow Code 2D (PFC2D) for granular sea ice, in which gas pores were treated as cavities and brine pockets as particle-filled regions with weakened boundaries. Numerical specimens with different pore structures were then generated for uniaxial compression simulation. The results show that, when total porosity and pore-size distribution are fixed, increasing the gas-pore proportion reduces the uniaxial compressive strength, elastic modulus, failure strain, and total number of cracks. Gas pores mainly weaken the effective load-bearing area and promote local stress concentration, whereas brine pockets mainly affect crack initiation initially dominated by shear cracks, crack coalescence, and the formation of localized failure bands. Pore-size distribution also influences strength variability by changing the pore number, mean pore size, and mean clear spacing between adjacent pore edges. In addition, under identical statistical pore parameters, random variation in pore location alone produces strength differences of approximately 13.8%-14.5%. These results indicate that the different mechanical effects of gas bubbles and brine pockets, as well as pore-structure randomness, should be considered when analyzing the compressive failure of porous sea ice.

DOI:

Year: 2026