Predicting Ice‐Structure Interactive Forces

Abstract

Structural design of offshore structures in subfreezing temperatures is an engineering challenge. Design loads vary arbitrarily and are difficult to evaluate. One of the design loads is the live load imposed by drifting ice features in the ocean. These ice features vary from small chunks of ice weighing a few hundred pounds to icebergs, which could weigh hundreds of tons. Their drifting speeds depend on the wind speeds and the ocean currents. Usually the structural columns have ice sheets adfrozen around their periphery. Floating ice features come in contact with these adfrozen ice sheets before ever touching the column surface. This makes it difficult to assess the design loads imparted by the floating ice feature to the structure. This article presents a method for estimating these loads and predicting the behavior of the adfrozen ice plate and the invading ice feature.