An overview of the Oden Arctic Technology Research Cruise 2015 (OATRC2015) and numerical simulations performed with SAMS driven by data collected during the cruise

Abstract

In the autumn of 2015, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat (SPRS) performed a research cruise named the "Oden Arctic Technology Research Cruise 2015" (OATRC2015); it involved the two Swedish icebreakers, Oden and Frej, in the international waters north of Svalbard. The ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company supported and participated in OATRC2015. The overall objective of OATRC2015 was to perform a safe cruise, collect valuable and important scientific data, and conduct full-scale field trials to test key technologies. The scientific scope of OATRC2015 included three major fields of study, namely: 1) collection of full-scale data necessary to build, calibrate and validate numerical models for floaters in ice, 2) collection of full-scale data necessary to build, calibrate and validate numerical models for ice management operations, and 3) collection of data for health, safety and environmental research. This paper presents OATRC2015, including the objectives of the expedition, and provides an overview of the research performed and the major findings. In addition, the paper includes an extensive discussion on the use of full-scale data from OATRC2015 to validate the Simulator for Arctic Marine Structures (SAMS).

A Study on the Effectiveness of the Heading Control on the Mooring Line Tension and Position Offset for an Arctic Floating Structure under Complex Environmental Loads

“…To keep the floater at the desired position, n thrusters are required to generate the required thrust, as shown in Equation (11):…”

“…To overcome these limitations, there are active research programs related to the simulation of ice-structure interactions. The numerical methods generally use the discrete element method (DEM), and simulations are being conducted on station-keeping in ice conditions, ice-structure interactions, and the navigation of ships in ice-covered waters [11][12][13]. To reduce the time required for the simulations, researchers used the graphical processing unit (GPU) to develop the GPU event mechanics (GEM) for use in acquiring a good floating-point calculation [14,15].…”

Ice Management in Offshore Operations

“…A research cruise (OATRC2015) was performed in the Arctic Ocean in 2015. One of the main objectives of this cruise was to collect full-scale data necessary to build, calibrate, and validate theoretical models for ice management operations (Lubbad et al 2018). 6.…”

Parallel channels' fracturing mechanism during ice management operations. Part I: Theory

“…1a illustrates one such long crack captured during the Oden Arctic Technology Research Cruise in 2015 (OATRC2015). An overview of OATRC2015 is given by Lubbad et al (2016); Fig. 1b conceptually highlights the described fracturing phenomena during ice management operations.…”