Sugar as an Analogue for Snow in Penetration Testing: A Preliminary Comparison

Abstract

Snow is a sintered matrix of ice, the strength of which is determined by the number and size of bonds between ice grains. However, because snow is a thermally unstable material, it is problematic to transport and store samples for accurate ex situ testing of mechanical behaviour. As an analogue for snow, we examined the sintering behaviour of different types of granular sugar at different humidities over different temporal periods and then assessed the extent of sintering and resistance to penetration of these samples. Like snow, increased sintering occurs in sugar over time. Sintering extent and rate are affected by the humidity environment and penetration resistance generally increases after increased sintering time. This preliminary examination suggests that in the absence of snow testing facilities, humidity-controlled sintered sugar may serve as a valuable proxy for examining the temporal variation of penetration resistance in snow.