We investigated the effects of microparticles and grain size on the microstructural evolutions and mechanical properties of polycrystalline ice. Uniaxial compression tests were conducted using fine-grained pure ice and silica-dispersed ice under various conditions. Deformation behavior of fine-grained ice was found to be characterized by stress exponent n ≈ 2 and activation energy Q ≈ 60 kJ mol−1. The derived strain rates of fine-grained ice were ≈ 1 order of magnitude larger than those of coarse-grained ice obtained in previous studies, and they were found to be independent of particle dispersion and dependent on the mean grain size of ice, with grain size exponent p ≈ 1.4. Work hardening was observed in dislocation creep, while the strain rate continued to decrease. These results indicate that the deformation mechanism of fine-grained ice is different from typical dislocation creep, often associated with n = 3. Although microparticles restricted grain growth, there was little direct effect on the deformation of fine-grained ice. Microstructural observations of the ice samples indicated that the grain boundaries were straight and that the subgrain boundary densities increased after deformation. Our experiments suggest that grain size and boundaries play important roles in the deformation processes of polycrystalline ice.

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