Numerical Study of Wave-Driven Impact of a Sea Ice Floe on a Circular Cylinder

This paper presents a numerical model for simulating wave-driven ice floe–structure interactions, which is integrated in a software framework (FhSim) for time-domain simulation of marine systems. The FhSim framework has proved to be a valuable tool for research and development within different applications and areas [1]. In this study, the wave-driven impact of a sea ice floe on a circular cylinder is simulated. The simulation setup refers to a recent experimental study [2], and the kinematics of ice floe in wave is compared with the experimental result. As the impact forces were not measured in the experiment, a closed-form analytical solution proposed by ISO/FDIS 19906 (Arctic offshore structures) is used for comparison. These comparisons indicate that the present numerical model is able to reproduce the ice floe kinematics and impact characteristics during floe–structure interaction. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis is conducted, aimed at investigating how much the simulated impact force is affected by variations in the pressure–area relationship.