| The interaction between a multiyear sea ice floe of variable thickness, and an offshore structure, has been examined using a 3-dimensional finite element method. Elastic response within the ice floe was assumed initially, and a uniform loading of the ice floe by the adjacent pack ice was used. As an example of the results for a frozen boundary condition at the ice/structure contact zone, with a central region of the ice floe having its thickness reduced to 50% as compared to the floe thickness at the structure (;The ice forces on the structure are reduced by ice floe thickness variations, and also are affected by the geometries at the ice floe/structure and ice floe/pack ice boundaries. The reduced elastic modulus in the warmer. lower part of an ice sheet promotes ice bending failure and causes lower structure loads.;In a second part of the study, the ice island loads acting upon a cylindrical rigid structure were analyzed by this 3-dimensional finite element method. A force of 6600 MN was computed to be acting on the structure with a maximum penetration distance of 8.2 m. A different theoretical method based upon multiyear ice field data resulted in a force of 336 MN and a maximum penetration distance of 75 m. |
