Author(s): Ryszard Staroszczyk
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Sea ice; Plate; Thermal expansion; Cylindrical structure; Ice–structure interaction
Abstract: The problem is analysed in which a circular cylindrical structure with vertical walls is in contact with a sheet of sea ice that is heated by sunlight. The ice sheet is assumed to be of uniform thickness, and its mechanical behaviour is that of a thin viscoelastic plate resting on water. It is also assumed that the lateral (horizontal) deformation of ice is constrained, and the in-plane compressive stresses arising in the plate due to ice heating are of elastic origin, while the slowly developing out-of-plane deformation (bending) of the plate is due to creep of ice. The ice–structure interaction forces are those arising in ice near the structure walls, and these forces grow continuously with increasing temperature of ice, thus with increasing internal compressive stresses, until the time when the deformed plate fractures due to exceeding its flexural strength. At the instant of the plate failure, the interaction forces reach maximum values. The two-dimensional problem of the ice plate deformation is solved in polar cylindrical coordinates, by applying a method of double Fourier–Bessel series expansion of the plate deflection function. The results of numerical simulations illustrate the evolution of the plate deflection prior to its flexural fracture, and show the variation of the ice–structure interaction forces as functions of the ice thickness and maximum daytime temperature increase at the top surface of ice.
Year: 2024