Effects\nof Environmental Temperature and Trapped Air\nBubbles on the Mechanical Properties of Ice Cubes

Ice\nis a widespread material in natural and industrial fields.\nTrapped air bubbles form in ice cubes due to the differences in the\nsolubility of air in ice and water, which directly affects the mechanical\nstrength of the ice cubes. To investigate the effects of environmental\ntemperature and trapped air bubbles on the mechanical properties of\nice cubes, a series of experiments are designed and carried out. A\nmathematical model that predicts the mechanical strength of ice cubes\nwith an accuracy over 80% is developed and validated. The results\nshow that even a volume content of trapped air bubbles in an ice cube\nas low as 1.98% can greatly impact the mechanical properties. This\nmodel reveals the mechanisms and principles governing the influences\nof environmental temperature and bubble volume content on the mechanical\nstrength of ice cubes. As the environmental temperature decreases\nfrom 0 to −20 °C, the compressive strength of clear ice\ncubes increases from 1.71 to 2.10 MPa, while that of bubble ice cubes\nincreases from 1.58 to 1.95 MPa. This study has implications for utilizing\ntrapped air bubbles to regulate the mechanical properties of ice and\nfor optimizing various mechanical deicing techniques.