Details:

Creators:
Nixon, W.A. ; Gawronski, T.J. ; Whelan, A.E.
Nixon, W.A. ; Gawronski, T.J. ; Whelan, A.E. Less -
Corporate Creators:
Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research
Corporate Contributors:
Iowa. Dept. of Transportation
Subject/TRT Terms:
[+]
Anti-icing Deicing Machinery Maintenance Road Machinery--Testing Roads--Maintenance And Repair--Equipment And Supplies--Testing Roads--Snow And Ice Control--Equipment And Supplies--Testing Snow And Ice Control Snow Removal
Publication/ Report Number:
IIHR Technical Report No. 383
Resource Type:
Tech Report
Geographical Coverage:
Iowa
Edition:
Final report.
Corporate Publisher:
Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research
Abstract:
A laboratory study has been conducted with two aims in mind. The first goal was

to develop a description of how a cutting edge scrapes ice from the road surface. The

second goal was to investigate the extent, if any, to which serrated blades were better than

un-serrated or "classical" blades at ice removal.

The tests were conducted in the Ice Research Laboratory at the Iowa Institute of

Hydraulic Research of the University of Iowa. A specialized testing machine, with a

hydraulic ram capable of attaining scraping velocities of up to 30 m.p.h. was used in the

testing.

In order to determine the ice scraping process, the effects of scraping velocity, ice

thickness, and blade geometry on the ice scraping forces were determined. Higher ice

thickness lead to greater ice chipping (as opposed to pulverization at lower thicknesses)

and thus lower loads. S~milabr ehavior was observed at higher velocities. The study of

blade geometry included the effect of rake angle, clearance angle, and flat width. The

latter were found to be particularly important in developing a clear picture of the scraping

process. As clearance angle decreases and flat width increases, the scraping loads show a

marked increase, due to the need to re-compress pulverized ice fragments.

The effect of serrations was to decrease the scraping forces. However, for the

coarsest serrated blades (with the widest teeth and gaps) the quantity of ice removed was

significantly less than for a classical blade. Finer serrations appear to be able to match the

ice removal of classical blades at lower scraping loads. Thus, one of the

recommendations of this study is to examine the use of serrated blades in the field.

Preliminary work (by Nixon and Potter, 1996) suggests such work will be fruitful.

A second and perhaps more challenging result of the study is that chipping of ice

is more preferable to pulverization of the ice. How such chipping can be forced to occur

is at present an open question.


Format:
PDF
Collection(s):
US Transportation Collection
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:8f2d9fead5ee683cc506394abe91fa9f5f1e657794ecc5efc675045be7ba46f9
Download URL:
https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/23346/dot_23346_DS1.pdf
File Type:

Supporting Files

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