Nonlinear Finite Element Simulations of Ice Sheet Forces on Conical Structures

Abstract

The present paper deals with interaction between an ice sheet and fixed, conical structures. The ice sheet as well as the structure is discretizied by finite elements. The interaction between the ice sheet and the conical structure is simulated using a special contact algorithm which makes it possible to follow the gradually developing contact between the ice sheet and structure. As the configuration of the ice sheet changes during the interaction process, the buoyancy forces changes accordingly. This process is traced by introducing a continuous nonlinear foundation model to include the effects of buoyancy forces and specific weight of the ice. The mechanical behavior of ice is approximated using two different constitutive models. In the first material model the ice is treated as an isotropic, brittle material, while in the second model the ice is considered being a transversal isotropic, brittle material. When the state of stress at a material point in the ice reaches the failure surface, cracking or crushing is said to occur. After cracking or crushing, the post peak behavior of the ice is approximated as a rigid plastic material. The results obtained during the finite element simulations are compared with analytical methods for calculation of ice sheet forces on conical structures.

Numerical Modeling of the Ice-Conical Structure Interaction Process Using Element Erosion Technique

“…There are several methods to describe the material failure. In this article we used the Finite Element Method with Element Erosion Technique, which also was used in leading scientific works [2,5,6] and showed its effectiveness.…”

“…The serious work is presented in a study [2] using the standard FEM. In this work, much attention was paid to the choice of constitutive models of the material, which is one of the main issues in solving such problems.…”

On Characteristics of Ice Ridges and Icebergs for Design of Ship Hulls in Polar Regions Based on Environmental Design Contours

“…Other studies are, e.g., those based on the finite element method (FEM), the graphics processing unit (GPU) computation basis [2,29], and the cohesive element method (CEM) [30]. In order to study the interaction between ice rubble and ships, numerical methods such as the DEM [31,32] and the FEM [33] have been applied. However, due to the complexity of the ice ridge and ship interaction process, little work has been carried out in relation to numerical simulation of the entire process where the simultaneous loading caused by both of the two different keel components have been accounted for.…”

A free, square, point-loaded ice sheet: A finite element-discrete element approach

“…The hybrid FE-DE method is then treated in [Munjiza, 2004], see also [Munjiza et al, 2015]. 1 A body of literature explores the use of lattice-, hybrid FE-DE-, and FE-based numerical methods to model a floating ice sheet, its fracture, and/or interaction with an offshore structure [Hocking, 1992;Jirásek and Bažant, 1995a;Hopkins, 1998;Sayed and Timco, 1998;Selvadurai and Introduction Sepehr, 1999;Sand, 2008;Dorival et al, 2008;Konuk et al, 2009;Gürtner, 2009;Paavilainen et al, 2009;Lu et al, 2014Lu et al, , 2015Lu et al, , 2016Herman, 2016;van den Berg, 2016]. Lattices of either axial/rotational spring-, truss-, or beam-type were exploited in [Jirásek and Bažant, 1995a;Sayed and Timco, 1998;Dorival et al, 2008;Paavilainen et al, 2009;Herman, 2016], and [van den Berg, 2016].…”