From X-ray tomography images to a numerical homogenized formulation of snow viscoplasticity

The homogenization techniques recently developed for the numerical study of the elastic behavior of snow are adapted to its non-linear visco-plastic behavior. Based on the definition of kinematically uniform boundary conditions, homogenization problems are applied to 3D-images obtained by X-ray tomography, and the mechanical response of snow samples of different densities is explored. An original post-processing approach in terms of viscous dissipated powers is defined in order to formulate the macroscopic behavior of snow as an Abouaf model based on a density parameterization.