A New Spectral Method for Modeling Dynamic Ice Actions

This paper presents a method of evaluating the response of a vertical offshore structure that is subjected to dynamic ice actions. The model concerns a loading scenario where a uniform ice sheet is drifting and crushing against the structure. Full scale data obtained at the lighthouse Norstro¨msgrund is used in the derivation of a method that applies both to narrow and wide structures. A large amount of events with directly measured local forces was used to derive formulas for spectral density functions of the ice force. A non-dimensional formula that was derived for the autospectrum applies for all ice thicknesses. Coherence functions are used to define the cross-spectra of the local ice forces. The two kind of spectral density functions for local forces can be used to evaluate the spectral density of the total ice force. The method takes account of both the spatial and time correlation between the local forces. Accordingly, the model provides a tool to consider the non-simultaneous characteristics of the local ice pressures while assessing the total ice force. The model can be used in conjunction with general purpose FE programs to evaluate the dynamic response of an offshore structure.