A Random Solution to Ice-Induced Vibrations of Conical Structures

Offshore installations designed to withstand extreme ice actions, such as the multi-leg structures in Cook Inlet, the gravity based Molikpaq during its mobilization in the Beaufort Sea, lighthouses and channel markers in the Baltic Sea, jackets and mooring poles in Bohai Bay and multi-leg structures offshore Sakhalin, have experienced ice-induced vibrations (IIVs). Full-scale data from Bohai Bay also demonstrate that a conical waterline geometry of the structure does reduce the magnitude of the ice forces, but it still experiences IIVs that can be treated as a stochastic process. ISO 19906 recommends that the dynamic ice actions and the corresponding IIVs shall be considered in the design as the fatigue limit state (FLS). ISO 19906 provides the guidance for the time-domain random dynamic ice action on conical structures. The dynamic structural response to such ice action can take the form of a random vibration. As an alternative to the time-domain approach, random vibration analysis can also be done in the frequency domain by the spectral approach. In addition to the time-domain random dynamic ice action on conical structures provided in ISO 19906, a type of ice-force spectrum on conical structures has been developed. In this paper, a simplified single-degree-of-freedom system (SDOF system) and the ice-force spectrum are used to derive an analytical random solution to assess the IIVs of conical structures. As ISO 19906 points out that particular attention shall be given to dynamic actions on narrow structures and flexible structures, the developed random solution can be useful for designers to make a fast estimate of IIVs (i.e., displacement, velocity and acceleration) and to efficiently screen out the key design parameters of a conical ice-resistant structure.