2D BENDING FIELD OF VARIABLE THICKNESS FLOATING ICE FLOES LOADED UPON IMPACT TO AN INCLINED WALL

Abstract

IN SOME CIRCUMSTANCES ICE FLOES MAY BE MODELED AS BEAMS. IN GENERAL THIS MODELING SUPPOSES CONSTANT THICKNESS, WHICH CONTRADICTS FIELD OBSERVATIONS. ACTION OF CURRENTS, WIND AND THE SEQUENCE OF CONTACTS, CAUSES THICKNESS TO VARY. HERE THIS EFFECT IS TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION ON THE MODELING OF THE BEHAVIOR OF ICE HITTING INCLINED WALLS OF OFFSHORE PLATFORMS. FOR THIS PURPOSE, THE BOUNDARY VALUE PROBLEM IS FIRST EQUATED. THE SET OF EQUATIONS SO OBTAINED IS THEN TRANSFORMED INTO A SYSTEM OF EQUATIONS, THAT IS THEN SOLVED NUMERICALLY. FOR THIS SAKE AN IMPLICIT SOLUTION IS DEVELOPED, USING A SHOOTING METHOD, WITH THE ACCOMPANYING JACOBIAN. IN-PLANE COUPLING AND THE DEPENDENCY OF THE BOUNDARY TERMS ON DEFORMATION, MAKE THE PROBLEM NON-LINEAR AND THE DEVELOPMENT PARTICULAR. DEFORMATION AND INTERNAL RESULTANTS ARE THEN COMPUTED FOR HARMONIC FORMS OF BEAM PROFILE. FORMS OF GIVING SOME ADDITIONAL GENERALITY TO THE PROBLEM ARE DISCUSSED.