Vane shear strength of snow immersed in water (I)

Relation between vane shear strength and immersion time

Abstract

Dry snow samples with density (ρ_d) of 0.079 to 0.302 g/cm³ were immersed for 3 to 15 minutes in water kept at 0°C, and vane shear strength of them was measured by shear vane tester. The following results were obtained : 1) The vane shear strength of low density snow (ρ_d<0.2 g/cm³) increased with the lapse time after immersion, but that of high density snow (ρ_d>0.2 g/cm³) decreased with the lapse time after immersion. 2) The value of vane shear strength of fine grained snow immersed for 3 minutes was less than that before immersion. The value of vane shear strength of new snow immersed for 3 minutes was more than that before immersion. Moreover, the value of vane shear strength of new snow immersed for 15 minutes was 2 to 5 times larger than that before immersion. 3) The heights of cylindrical new snow samples (ρ_d=0.127 g/cm³) immersed for 8 minutes and 12 minutes were about 60% and 55% of those before immersion, respectively.