Author(s): Malith Prasanna; Jaakko Heinonen
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Ice rubble accumulation; Conical offshore wind foundations; Discrete element method
Abstract: This paper studies ice failure and ice rubble accumulation against conical offshore wind turbine foundations by using Discrete Element Method simulations. In the simulations an ice sheet is set to float on the water and pushed against a conical structure with a constant velocity. Ice load on the structure, rubble pile height and weight were obtained from the simulations. Simulations were performed with varying ice-ice and ice-structure friction coefficients to investigate their effect on ice load and ice rubbling processes. Simulation results revealed that the ice-structure friction has significant effect on horizontal ice load on the structure while the effect of ice-ice friction is more pronounced on vertical ice load. Simulations further revealed that the ice rubble pile tends to grow in width direction than height as more ice rubble accumulates in front of the structure. Simulated ice loads and rubble pile height were further compared with the same calculated using the Croasdale method on ice load on conical structures. The study concluded that when using Croasdale model, ice-structure friction coefficient value must be chosen cautiously taking in to account the dynamic friction to avoid overestimation of calculated rubble pile height and horizontal ice load.
Year: 2026