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Updated: Sep 3, 2025
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Ice Generation and the Heat and Mass Transfer Phenomena of Introducing Water to a Cold Bath of Brine
Published on: March 13, 2017
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Stress accumulation by confined ice in a temperature gradient
Dominic Gerber1, Lawrence A Wilen2, Florian Poydenot3
1Department of Materials, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
Summary
Material freezing damage is often caused by water flow to ice crystals, not just expansion. This study reveals how localized stresses build up during freezing, increasing damage risk even in mild conditions.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Thermodynamics
- Geophysics
Background:
- Freezing materials can cause damage, often attributed to water's volumetric expansion.
- Ice crystal growth is primarily driven by water flow, leading to significant stress buildup.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a technique for characterizing stress buildup during freezing with high spatial resolution.
- To understand the mechanisms and localization of stresses during ice formation.
Main Methods:
- Creating a stable ice-water interface in a controlled temperature gradient.
- Measuring the deformation of a confining boundary to analyze stress fields.
- Utilizing micrometer spatial resolution for stress characterization.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated a novel technique for high-resolution stress measurement during freezing.
- Observed global stress increase over time due to water transport to undercooled regions.
- Found significant stress localization, increasing damage probability, and confirmed proportionality to undercooling.
Conclusions:
- Localized stress during freezing is a critical factor in material damage, even in seemingly benign situations.
- The findings align with the Clapeyron equation and have broad implications for various scientific fields.
- This research offers new insights into ice-induced stress relevant to cryopreservation, frost heave, and material degradation.
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