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The friction of tyres on roads has been of practical importance for many years with nearly 80% of terrestrial traffic making use of rubber tyres. Tyres provide the grip required for vehicle acceleration, braking and cornering. In order for a tyre to grip on a snow covered surface friction mechanisms such as “ploughing”, (where sharp tread block edges dig into and break bonds between the snow grains) and fluid film lubrication must be considered. These are not present when a tyre interacts with tarmac. In addition metamorphism of the snow over time can result in variations of the structure and mechanical properties, this can occur rapidly especially when dealing with temperatures close to snows melting point. When full car-scale outdoor testing is carried out the snow conditions cannot be controlled and vary daily. This means the snow properties must be measured every day so that any observed variations in friction can be attributed to the tyres rather than the snow. At present the simple measurements being carried out on the snow tracks have not proved sufficient to pick up on the variations in the snow. This leads to inconsistent results: one tyre behaves differently on two different days, even though the snow was measured to be the same. This has resulted in the need for further study of the way snow variations influence the grip of winter tyres. The primary aim of this study is to identify which snow properties contribute to the friction of tyres on snow and be able to estimate the friction from measurements of snow properties. This work is the first comprehensive study to combine: multiple snow properties, microstructure characterisation, measurement of friction behaviour and different snow (both artificial and natural). In order to study the way snow affects the grip of winter tyres, methods of manufacturing artificial snow with consistent mechanical properties and microstructure are used. A method of blending ice chips (a solid state fracturing process) and compressing the resulting snow to form a test track was developed during a previous PhD carried out in our group. An alternate snow microstructure was created by using an established process of creating snow by vapour deposition. The process was simplified and downscaled, the resulting snow consisted of large dendritic grains, very different to the blended ice chips. Both snows were pressed in identical manners to create snow testing tracks. In addition, natural snow collected from the field was tested to compare with the artificial snow. In order to investigate how the variations in the snow affected the friction of tyres extensive testing was carried out in a cold room using a linear tribometer, using procedures established in previous studies. Two analytical rubber samples were used to investigate the friction, a rounded edge sample and a siped sample. Testing was carried out at -10°C at speeds of 0.01m/s, 0.1m/s and 1m/s. A significant part of this PhD involved the development of new methods and equipment which have not been used to study snow in this way before. In order to characterise mechanical properties, shear testing, compression testing and cohesion testing were carried out. To investigate snow microstructure, surface profilometry, microscopy and X-ray microtomography were used. Correlating the changes observed in snow characteristics with the changes recorded in the coefficient of friction has allowed the development of an empirical equation. This can be used to predict the coefficient of friction of a given snow based on three relatively simple snow measurements: a compression test to calculate the effective modulus, a roughness measurement to calculate the peak count density and a snow penetration test. For the first time this study allows us to use the empirical equation to estimate the relative contributions of the ploughing and surface friction mechanisms to the total friction. This allows the comparison of full car-scale test data as it is now possible to account for variations in the snow test tracks.

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Thesis (B.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1979. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Stanley Richard Rotman. / B.S.

An acoustic frequency-swept wave was investigated as a means for determining Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) in cold wind-swept prairie and sub-alpine environments. Building on previous research conducted by investigators who have examined the propagation of sound in snow, digital signal processing was used to determine acoustic pressure wave reflection coefficients at the interfaces between 'layers' indicative of changes in acoustic impedance. Using an iterative approach involving boundary conditions at the interfaces, the depth-integrated SWE was determined using the Berryman equation from porous media physics. Apparatuses used to send and receive sound waves were designed and deployed during the winter season at field sites situated near the city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and in Yoho National Park, British Columbia. Data collected by gravimetric sampling was used as comparison for the SWE values determined by acoustic sounding. The results are encouraging and suggest that this procedure is similar in accuracy to SWE data collected using gravimetric sampling. Further research is required to determine the applicability of this technique for snow situated at other geographic locations.

An acoustic frequency-swept wave was investigated as a means for determining Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) in cold wind-swept prairie and sub-alpine environments. Building on previous research conducted by investigators who have examined the propagation of sound in snow, digital signal processing was used to determine acoustic pressure wave reflection coefficients at the interfaces between 'layers' indicative of changes in acoustic impedance. Using an iterative approach involving boundary conditions at the interfaces, the depth-integrated SWE was determined using the Berryman equation from porous media physics. Apparatuses used to send and receive sound waves were designed and deployed during the winter season at field sites situated near the city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and in Yoho National Park, British Columbia. Data collected by gravimetric sampling was used as comparison for the SWE values determined by acoustic sounding. The results are encouraging and suggest that this procedure is similar in accuracy to SWE data collected using gravimetric sampling. Further research is required to determine the applicability of this technique for snow situated at other geographic locations.

För att ta fram vårflodsprognoser används idag en hydrologisk modell, HBVmodellen, som används operationellt både i Sverige och i andra länder för att ta fram tillrinningsprognoser. Ett av problemen med dessa prognoser är dock att de ofta har felaktigheter i beräkning av tillrinningsvolymer. I den här studien undersöks Vängelsjöns delavrinningsområde. Ett prognosområde där HBV-modellens tillrinningsprognos tidigare gett stora volymfel. Rapporten undersöker därför om det går att korrigera den operationella modellens snömängd genom snödjupsobservationer, för att ta fram mer tillförlitliga vårflodsprognoser. I rapporten har snödjupsobservationer och densitetsmätningar från Vattenregleringsföretagen (VRF), tillsammans med snödjupsobservationer från Sveriges meteorologiska och hydrologiska institut (SMHI), analyserats för att se om de kan användas för att förbättra tillrinningsprognosen för Vängelsjöns delavrinningsområde. Studien visar att det finns potential till att använda snödjupsobservationer för att minska osäkerheter i tillrinningsprognosen för Vängelsjöns delavrinningsområde. Det bästa resultatet gavs genom att använda tre stationer från SMHI tillsammans med två stationer från VRF. Resultatet för dessa fem stationer gav ett volymfel i uppmätt vattenekvivalent på 6 %, 7 %, 22 % och 17 % för mars månad perioden 2014-2017, vilket gav en markant förbättring mot det modellerade prognosvärdet med volymfel på 40 %, 77 %, 24 %, och 49 % för samma period. / Today, spring flood forecasts are calculated through a hydrological model, the HBVmodel. It is a model that is used operationally both in Sweden and in other countries to obtain catchment forecasts. One problem with these forecasts is that they often give errors in calculations to the inflow volume. In this study the Vängelsjö sub catchment will be examined. A forecast area where the HBV-model flow forecasting has given large volume errors. In the report it is therefore examined if the operational model can be corrected with snow measurement data. In this report snow depth observations and density measurements from Vattenregleringsföretagen (VRF) have been analyzed, together with snow depth observations from the Swedish Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (SMHI) to see if the data can be used to improve the forecasting for Vängelsjö sub catchment. The study shows that there is a potential in using snow measurement observations to reduce insecurities in the flow forecast for Vängelsjö sub catchment. The best result was received by using three snow stations from SMHI and two from VRF. The result from those five stations gave a volume error in measured snow water equivalent (SWE) at 6 %, 7 %, 22% and 17 % for Mars during the period 2014-2017, which gave a significant improvement against the modelled forecast value with volume errors of 40 %, 77 %, 24 % and 49 % for the same period.