A grain-size driven transition in the deformation mechanism in slow snow compression

We conducted consecutive loading-relaxation experiments at low strain rates to study the viscoplastic behavior of the intact ice matrix in snow. The experiments were conducted using a micro-compression stage within the X-ray tomography scanner in the SLF cold laboratory. Next, to evaluate the experiments, a novel, implicit solution of a transient scalar model was developed to estimate the stress exponent and time scales in the effective creep relation (Glen's law). The result reveals that, for the first time, a transition in the exponent in Glen's law depends on geometrical grain size. A cross-over of stress exponent $n=1.9$ for fine grains to $n=4.4$ for coarse grains is interpreted as a transition from grain boundary sliding to dislocation creep. The dataset includes compression force data from 11 experiments and corresponding 3D image data from tomography scans.