Modelling Randomness in the Simulation of Ice-Induced Vibrations

Sea ice forms in a dynamic environment that affects its morphology. This results in the inhomogeneity of ice reflected for example in its thickness variation, flaws in terms of brine channels or cracks, presence of snow cover, and its various deformed states undergoing freeze-thaw cycles. This sea ice inhomogeneity introduces important effects observable in the response of a structure when it is interacting with sea ice. Failure to account for the randomness introduced by the sea ice inhomogeneity would risk producing unrealistic simulations not seen in the actual world. In this paper the proposed approach to model randomness in numerical simulation of ice-induced vibrations is presented. This is achieved by accounting for randomness in the ice crushing force. The study is carried out using a purpose-developed numerical model that simulates the ice-induced vibrations of structures. The model adopts a phenomenological basis that aims to capture the important processes during the dynamic interaction between ice and the structure. Full-scale measurement data is used for comparison in this study.