Wave-Induced Fracture of a Sea-Ice Analog

We study at the laboratory scale the rupture of thin floating sheets made of a brittle material under a wave-induced mechanical forcing. We show that the rupture occurs where the curvature is maximum and the breakup threshold strongly depends on the wave properties. We observe that the critical stress for fracture depends on the forcing wavelength. Hence our observations are incompatible with a critical stress criterion for fracture. Instead, our measurements can be rationalized as an energy criterion: a fracture propagates when the material surface energy is lower than the released elastic energy, which depends on the forcing geometry. In light of these findings, it may be worthwhile to revisit current numerical models of sea ice fracture by ocean waves.