Author(s): Hiroshi Saeki; Kiyoshi Izumi; Masafumi Sakai; Shigeru Ogura

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Abstract: Recently, caisson-type structures have been used for offshore structures, such as artificial islands and oil drilling rigs, in very cold regions. As the liquid filling the caisson freezes, the internal pressure rises. This pressure rise, due to an increase in volume caused by ice growth, can be estimated. Presented in this paper are the theoretical analyses and experiments needed to develop a method to estimate this internal pressure. The following conclusions were obtained from this investigation: 1) With the use of saline water as the filling material in the test tank, the internal pressure increased only slightly with the growth of ice thickness and the surface of the ice sheet became wet due to the permeability of saline-water ice. Radial cracks did not occur on the surface of the ice sheet. ii) If an air gap exists between the caisson cover and filling material, the rise in internal pressure due to the growth of ice thickness would be lessened because of the permeability of sea ice to water. iii) In the case of freshwater as the filling material in the test tank, internal pressure increased markedly with the growth of ice thickness; also radial cracks occurred on the surface of the ice. The occurrence of these cracks did not have an effect on internal pressure.

DOI:

Year: 1984