Author(s): Ian Jordaan; Robert Frederking; Chuanke Li

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Keywords: Ice crushing; Pressure-area relationships Fracture; Scale effect; Probabilistic averaging

Abstract: Compressive ice failure is an important aspect in the design of offshore structures in ice environments. The authors concentrate attention on the crushing failure mode. The scale effect is a phenomenon whereby the average pressure decreases with contact area. In classical elasticity, viscoelasticity and plasticity, there is no scale effect. In the case of ice compressive failure, there is ample evidence of a scale effect. Two factors are dominant in this situation. Ice is prone to fracture, thus reducing the volume of material to be crushed, and aiding in the formation of high pressure zones. The second factor in the scale effect is the averaging process that results from the transition from local pressures on small areas (dominated by high pressure zones) to global pressures, where this effect is averaged. The analysis of probabilistic averaging is described with the example of pressures measured on the Molikpaq structure. The implications for design are significant.

DOI:

Year: 2006