An analysis of plastic shock waves in snow

An analytical study of the propagation of shock waves in snow was carried out to evaluate the response of medium density snow to high rates of loading. One solution was developed for steady shock waves; this resulted in calculation of pressure jump, density jump and stress wave speed. Correlation with available experimental data was found to be good. Nonsteady shock waves were also considered in order to evaluate wave attenuation rates in snow. Very few data were available to compare with the analytical results, so no definite conclusions on the part of the study could be made. The results show, however, that shock waves that produce plastic deformation attenuate at extremely high rates and that differences in pressure between two waves are quickly eliminated within a short distance. Calculations were also made to evaluate the effect of wave frequency on attenuation rates. The results show that for plastic waves, frequency is not a predominant factor for determining attenuation rates.