The force action of ice cakes to stationary and floating objects

Abstract

In freezing seas during winter periods between open water and cover by ice, transitional zones are formed from fragments of level ice fields (ice cakes). The quantity and sizes of these fragments decrease as they approach to open water. The ice cakes are drifting due to action of winds and sea currents. During storm periods, being on the stormy surface of the seas, ice cakes are capable of exerting the dynamic loads on stationary and floating objects. At the initial moment of contact of ice floes with various obstacles, significant local pressures are realized оn small contact areas, which represent a danger to the integrity of the structures of such obstacles. In the article considered an approach to solving the task of the dynamic impact by fragments of level ice fields on the supporting parts of offshore hydraulic structures that will be function in the conditions of open sea during severe storms in the winter and spring periods.