Short Note: Finite-Element Stress Analysis of Avalanche Snowpacks

Abstract

The elastic stresses have been determined, in a single-layer homogeneous snowpack on a realistic avalanche slope, by a two-dimensional finite-element analysis. Calculation of the state of stress throughout the 0.96 m snow layer on a slope approximately that of the Lift Gully at Berthoud Pass, Colorado, resulted in reasonable stress values. In particular, both field experience and the calculated shear stresses predict avalanching in the lower-density snows. Also, tensile stresses were present only in the area of the observed fracture line.