Strength of frozen and unfrozen artificial rock joints depending on material porosity

This contribution investigates the relationship of the uniaxial compressive strength and shear strengthof frozen and unfrozen synthetic samples. Synthetic samples with a range of porosities were tested in shear to determine if Barton's (1976) equation is valid for frozen material. It was found that Barton's equation has to be used with extreme caution as the residual angle of friction reduces with the presence of ice in the pore space.