In northern forests, winter is the preferred time for logging operations, since, when wet soils freeze, their strength increases, which ensures a high load-bearing capacity of winter forest roads and reduces the cost of forestry work by increasing the load on forestry equipment, including when driving through frozen lowlands. The present article analyzes frozen loamy–sandy soil, which, at subzero temperatures, behaves like a brittle material with a sufficiently high, but limited, strength. Well-known models commonly use empirical parameters, correlations, and numerical methods to estimate the strength of such materials. An analytical model of the full load–displacement curve would reduce the number of necessary calculations and increase the ability to predict the bearing capacity of winter forest roads. However, there are few of these models. Such models were developed, as a rule, to study stress–strain in concrete and rocks, meaning that researchers have to recalculate the load into stress and displacement into deformation, which is not always simple. This work aimed at theoretically justifying a new analytical model for quantifying the bearing capacity of winter forest roads and assessing the adequacy of the model by comparing it with experimental data. To achieve this purpose, the concepts of fracture mechanics and methods of mathematical modeling were used. The model was verified using experimental data, and model examples for determining the peak load were provided. Prospects for development of the research topic were also considered, taking into account new developments in forest road monitoring for logging management.

The experimental setup based on a carbon dioxide laser, developed and manufactured by the authors, is intended to study the processes and parameters of laser processing of wood related to identifying the most effective cutting modes for various wood species, determining the effect of density, hardness, texture and other distinctive features and properties of soft and hard wood species on the quality and energy consumption during laser processing. One of the key parameters of laser processing is the through-cut speed, which was determined for samples 40 mm wide and long and 4-8 mm thick with a thickness step of 1 mm for the following species: spruce, pine, birch, oak, maple, aspen. The speed values were found by calculating the ratio of the sample thickness to the average cutting time. In order to study the effect of laser radiation on the chemical composition of wood, the dynamics of the elemental composition of samples of various wood species was investigated depending on the received radiation dose from a carbon dioxide laser using a scanning electron microscope. Approximate energy consumption during laser cutting was estimated using a formula that included the parameters obtained during the experimental work: cutting length, hole diameter, laser power, laser efficiency, and through-cut time. The results of the study showed that the highest cutting speeds were observed for soft wood species with low density (spruce, pine, aspen), as opposed to hard wood species (birch, oak, maple). As the radiation dose increases for all the presented species, the percentage content of carbon and oxygen changes towards an increase in the former and a decrease in the latter. The highest energy consumption was recorded during maple processing (0.0009 kW*h). For soft wood species, significantly lower (approximately 2 times) energy consumption values were determined (0.0004-0.0005 kW*h). The conducted studies have shown that the corresponding adjustment of the cutting modes with a carbon dioxide laser can become a means of targeted change of the chemical composition of wood, energy consumption and the quality of its processing in accordance with modern technological requirements.