Author(s): S. E. Bruneau; A. B. Cammaert; K. R. Croasdale
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Keywords: No Keywords
Abstract: Some level of ice tolerance will determine operating efficiency and safety of both fixed and floating production systems off Canada's East Coast. For floating production systems large icebergs will be avoided, but impacts from bergy bits and growlers which may escape detection and management systems will govern local design. This paper describes the results of a pilot experimental program aimed at advancing the understanding of ice/structure interaction processes, and the loads and pressures produced by small iceberg impacts on offshore structures. The field program was conducted in Newmans Cove, Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland, during the spring of 1992. The experimental program was the first in which natural iceberg pieces were drawn into a shore based, instrumented, load measurement system for the purposes of recording impact loads, kinematics, and ice crushing characteristics. Detailed data analyses of iceberg characteristics, drag coefficients, kinematics, force traces, contact areas, and pressure/area relationships have been performed. This paper reviews the analysis of measured force time histories, contact areas and resultant pressure calculations. Significantly, these results indicate lower ice loads than those which would have been determined using the existing knowledge base. Also the overall success of the experimental techniques has led to the planning of larger tests.
Year: 1994