Author(s): Yung-Shih Wang
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Keywords: No Keywords
Abstract: The forces that can be transmitted by a moving ice sheet onto arctic offshore structures are limited by the failure force of the ice sheet and are determined by its strength and geometry. For a uniform-thickness ice sheet moving against a vertical structure, the ice sheet may fail either in crushing or in buckling. Ice crushing failure has been addressed by numerous works in the literature. However, buckling failure has received less attention. This paper presents a theoretical analysis of the elastic buckling failure of a semi-infinite ice sheet moving against a cylindrical structure. Simplified equations are developed by the principle of virtual work and Fourier expansion and solved numerically by means of a finite difference method. Results are presented in dimensionless form. The results indicate that the boundary condition between the structure and the ice sheet affects the buckling load. The buckling load for an ice sheet with a frictionless ice/structure boundary condition (ice sheet free to slide and rotate without friction) is about one-fourth as great as the buckling load for the same ice sheet with a fixed boundary condition (ice sheet frozen to the structure, not able to slide or rotate). The results of this paper also apply to model tests of ice sheet/structure interactions. Sometimes buckling failure occurs in a test designed to investigate another failure mode. The results of this paper enable one to predict whether or not an unwanted buckling failure may occur.
Year: 1978