Strain rate effect on the tensile strength of frozen silt

Tension tests at constant rates were conducted on remolded saturated frozen Fairbanks silt with medium density at -5°C for various machine speeds. It is found that the tensile strength depends strongly upon strain rate and the critical strain rate for ductile-brittle transition was about 10-2S_1. The peak tensile strength condierably decreases with decreasing strain rate for ductile failure, while it slightly decreases with increasing strain rate in the brittle region. The failure strain also varies with strain rate, but the initial tangent modulus is found not to be depend upon strain rate.