Dry-snow slab avalanches are generally caused by a sequence of fracture processes including (1) failure initiation in a weak snow layer underlying a cohesive slab, (2) crack propagation within the weak layer and (3) tensile fracture through the slab which leads to its detachment. During the past decades, theoretical and experimental work has gradually led to a better understanding of the fracture process in snow involving the collapse of the structure in the weak layer during fracture. This now allows us to better model failure initiation and the onset of crack propagation, i.e., to estimate the critical length required for crack propagation. On the other hand, our understanding of dynamic crack propagation and fracture arrest propensity is still very limited.
WSL, Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research, Davos, Switzerland; Irstea, UR ETGR, Grenoble, France; Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France; USDA, Forest Service National Avalanche Center, Bozeman, MT, United States
Recommended Citation:
Gaume J,, Van Herwijnen A,, Chambon G,et al. Modeling of crack propagation in weak snowpack layers using the discrete element method[J]. Cryosphere,2015-01-01,9(5)