Interaction of Nomadic Bergy Bits With an Offshore Gravity Based Structure in Waves

Offshore oil and gas operations are being conducted in harsh environments such as offshore fields around Newfoundland and Labrador. The platforms used in these fields may be exposed to additional risks due the presence of drifting ice pieces in various sizes. To avoid a dangerous collision with a large floating ice, ice management and risk mitigation plans are required firstly. In case of smaller ice pieces (or bergy bits), if they collide with an offshore platform, the combined load of bergy bits and waves may be larger than the typical design wave loads. Hence, it is necessary to predict how these bergy bits may interact with a platform in a given sea state to estimate the combined load for developing a reliable design. In this paper, dynamic interaction between a moving bergy bit and a fixed offshore platform is simulated using CFD (Computation Fluid Dynamics) method. Trajectories and velocities of ice are simulated and compared to understand the hydrodynamic interaction by applying a series of different wave conditions such as wave period, height and relative incident peak location. The simulation outcomes show the importance and possibilities to apply it to the design process of such structures in the ocean.