Discrete element modeling of ice loads on ship hulls in broken ice fields

Ice loads on a ship hull affect the safety of the hull structure and the ship maneuvering performance in ice-covered regions. A discrete element method （DEM） is used to simulate the interaction between drifting ice floes and a moving ship. The pancake ice floes are modelled with three-dimensional （3-D） dilated disk elements considering the buoyancy, drag force and additional mass induced by the current. The ship hull is modelled with 3D disks with overlaps. Ice loads on the ship hull are determined through the contact detection between ice floe element and ship hull element and the contact force calculation. The influences of different ice conditions （current velocities and directions, ice thicknesses, concentrations and ice floe sizes） and ship speeds are also examined on the dynamic ice force. The simulated results are compared qualitatively well with the existing field data and other numerical results. This work can be helpful in the shil3 structure design and the navigation securitv in ice-covered fields.

Uncertainty and joint probability of sea ice loads

Ice load is one of the most important factors for design of marine stuctures in cold sea area.The designcriteria of ice loads for marine structures consist of two parts: level ice thickness and crushing strength. Due to thestrong randomness of the affecting factors on ice thickness and crushing strength, such as ice temperature,air temperature, water temperature,salinity,wind field, numerical simulation method method can not produce satisfactory results. Thispaper proposes a method of uncertainty analysis and joint probabilistic prediction of level ice thickness and crushingstrength instead of traditional ice load criteria for marine structures.

Dynamic ice loads on conical structures

Two series of model tests were performed to observe the dynamic ice loads on conical structures.The variable testing parameters include the water line diameter of the model cone and ice parameters.During small water line diameter tests,two-time breaking is found to be the typical failure of ice on steep conical structure,and also be controlled by other factors,such as ice speed and the cone angle.During big water line diameter tests,the ice sheet failed nonsimultaneously around the cone.Several independent zones of bending were found in the nonsimultaneous failure process of ice.With the increase of the ratio of D/h and the number of independent zones,the total ice force was found being gradually reduced.

Numerical Simulation of Turret Moored Ship Performance in Variable Ice Drift Based on Heading Control

The frequent change in ice drift direction poses a significant challenge for turret moored ship in ice. Variability in ice drift is mainly caused by the winds and currents. To solve this problem, a new method with numerical simulation based on heading control is applied to reduce the risk of operation of The Arctic Tandem Offloading Terminal(ATOT),which includes an offloading icebreaker(OIB) moored to a submerged turret and a shuttle tanker moored at the stern of the OIB in this paper. An icebreaking tanker, MT Uikku, was modeled in a simulation program. Then the level ice load on the tanker was calculated with different ice thicknesses and drift speeds, after which a heading controller assisted with mooring system is used to simulate the horizontal motion of the tanker under the ice action.

Time-and Frequency-Domain Analysis of Ice-Induced Displacement Responses Offshore Fixed Platforms

On the basis of ice- induced forced vibration model, ice- induced displacement responses of offshore fixed platforms are investigated in both time domain and frequency domain. The relationships of ice-induced displacement responses with ice breaking modes, ice acting directions and platform structures are analyzed and determined. The results lead to an important conclusion obtained for the first time that ice breaking frequency and the natural frequency of the first mode of the platform are the two main factors that dominate the degree of vibration. The present work provides a firm basis for both design and operation of fixed platforms against ice loading.

Interaction between sea ice/iceberg and ship structures: A review

For ship structural design and good maneuverability in an ice-covered sea, the local and global load of ice cover on ships should be well understood. This paper reviews the extensive work done on ice loads on ships, including： （a） Ice pressure and local load determination based on field and model tests; （b） Global ice loads on ships from full-scale field observations, model tests and numerical models under different ice conditions （level ice and pack ice） and ship operations （maneuvering and mooring）. Spe- cial attention is paid to the discrete element simulation of global ice loads on ships; and （c） Analytical solutions and numerical models of impact loads of icebergs on ships for polar navigation. Finally, research potential in these areas is discussed.

Efficient Approximate Method of Global Reliability Analysis for Offshore Platforms in the Ice Zone

Ice load is the dominative load in the design of offshore platforms in the ice zone, and the extreme ice load is the key factor that affects the safety of platforms. The present paper studies the statistical properties of the global resistance and the extreme responses of the jacket platforms in Bahai Bay, considering the randomness of ice load, dead load, steel elastic modulus, yield strength and structural member dimensions. Then, based on the above results, an efficient approximate method of the global reliability analysis for the offshore platforms is proposed, which converts the implicit nonlinear performance function in the conventional reliability analysis to linear explicit one. Finally, numerical examples of JZ20-2 MSW, JZ20-2NW and JZ20-2 MUQ offshore jacket platforms in the Bahai Bay demonstrate the satisfying efficiency, accuracy and applicability of the proposed method.

Fatigue Crack Propagation in Steel A131 Under Ice Loading of Crushing,Bending and Buckling

Three types of ice loading, which are most commonly present when ice acts on structures, are chosen and simulated for use of fatigue crack propagation tests on offshore structural steel A131. The three types of ice categorized in accordance with the failure modes when acting on structures called Crushing ice, bending ice, and buckling ice, respectively. This paper presents an experimental investigation on the fatigue crack propagation behavior of widely used high strength steel A131 for offshore jackets in the loading environment of ice crushing, bending, and buckling. The test results of fatigue crack propagation in steel A131 tinder these simulated ice loading at temperature 292K are presented and analyzed in detail in this paper, The amplitude root mean square stress intensity factor is optimized to be the fundamental parameter of fatigue crack propagation for all types of ice loading histories. The results are also compared with constant amplitude fatigue crack propagation conclusions as in wave load mode, and a joint investigation on the results from ice forces, ice-induced vibrations, and ice-induced fatigue crack propagation is conducted. Conclusions are drawn for reference in structural design and material selection for offshore structures in ice environments.

Modal Parameters Identification of A Real Offshore Platform From the Response Excited by Natural Ice Loading

This paper investigates the possibility of utilizing response from natural ice loading for modal parameter identification of real offshore platforms.The test platform is the JZ20-2 MUQ jacket platform located in the Liaodong Bay,China.A field experiment is carried out in winter season,as the platform is excited by floating ices.The feasibility is demonstrated by the acceleration response of two different segments.By the SSI-data method,the modal frequencies and damping ratios of four structural modes can be successfully identified from both segments.The estimated information from both segments is almost identical,which demonstrates that the modal identification is trustworthy.Furthermore,by taking the Jacket platform as a benchmark,the numerical performance of five popular time-domain EMA methods is systematically compared from different viewpoints.The comparisons are categorized as:(1)stochastic methods versus deterministic methods;(2)high-order methods versus low-order methods;(3)data-driven versus covariance-driven stochastic subspace identification methods.

Ice Induced Low Temperature Fatigue Crack Propagation in Offshore Structural Steel A131

To investigate the low temperature fatigue crack propagation behavior of offshore structural steel A131 under random ice loading, three ice failure modes that are commonly present in the Bohai Gulf are simulated according to the vibration stress responses induced by real ice loading. The test data are processed by a universal software FCPUSL developed on the basis of the theory of fatigue crack propagation and statistics. The fundamental parameter controlling the fatigue crack propagation induced by random ice loading is determined to be the amplitude root mean square stress intensity factor K-arm. The test results are presented on the crack propagation diagram where the crack growth rate da/dN is described as the function of K-arm. It is evident that the ice failure modes have great influence on the fatigue crack propagation behavior of the steel in ice-induced vibration. However, some of the experimental phenomena and test results are hard to be physically explained at present. The work in this paper is an initial attempt to investigate the cause of collapse of offshore structures due to ice loading.

Discrete Element Simulations of Ice Load and Mooring Force on Moored Structure in Level Ice

Moored structures are suitable for operations in ice-covered regions owing to their security and efficiency.This paper aims to present a new method for simulating the ice load and mooring force on the moored structure during ice-structure interaction with a spherical Discrete Element Method(DEM).In this method,the level ice and mooring lines consist of bonded sphere elements arranged in different patterns.The level ice model has been widely validated in simulation of the ice load of fixed structures.In the mooring line simulation,a string of spherical elements was jointed with the parallel bond model to simulate the chains or cable structure.The accuracy of the mooring line model was proved by comparing the numerical results with the nonlinear FEM results and model towing experiment results.The motion of the structure was calculated in the quaternion method,considering the ice load,mooring force,and hydrodynamic force.The hydrodynamic force comprised wave-making damping,current drag,and buoyancy force.Based on the proposed model,the interaction of a semi-submersible structure with level ice was simulated,and the effect of ice thickness on the ice load was analyzed.The numerical results show that the DEM method is suitable to simulate the ice load and mooring force on moored floating structures.

基于态基近场动力学的多重失效弹性模型及其在船-冰碰撞中的应用

Due to complex mesoscopic and the distinct macroscopic evolution characteristics of ice,especially for its brittle-to-ductile transition in dynamic response,it is still a challenging task to build an accurate ice constitutive model to predict ice loads during ship-ice collision.To address this,we incorporate the conventional multi-yield-surface plasticity model with the state-based peridynamics to simulate the stress and crack formation of ice under impact.Additionally,we take into account of the effects of inhomogeneous temperature distribution,strain rate,and pressure sensitivity.By doing so,we can successfully predict material failure of isotropic freshwater ice,iceberg ice,and columnar saline ice.Particularly,the proposed ice constitutive model is validated through several benchmark tests,and proved its applicability to model ice fragmentation under impacts,including drop tower tests and ballistic problems.Our results show that the proposed approach provides good computational performance to simulate ship-ice collision.

An Integrated Approach to Fatigue Life Prediction of Whole System for Offshore Platforms

The failure of one or even more components usually does riot lead to the collapse of the whole structure. Most of the analysis of fatigue is centered on only a single component which the researchers are interested in or Much attention should be paid to. However, the collapse of a structure is the result of failure of a series of components in a specific order or path. This paper proposes an integrated approach to fatigue life prediction of whole structural system for offshore platforms, mainly describing the basic principles and prediction method. A method is presented for determining the failure path of the whole structure system and calculating the fatigue life in the determined failure path, The corresponding final collapse criteria for the whole structure system are discussed, A simple method of equivalent fatigue stress range calculation and a mathematical model of structural component fatigue life estimation in consideration of sea wave and sea ice loads are provided. As an application of the proposed approach, a fixed production platform Bohai No. 8 is chosen for the predication of fatigue life of the whole structure system by means of the software OSFAC developed based on the present methods.

Modification Method of Longitudinal Bow Structure for Ice-Strengthened Merchant Ship

:Merchant ships,which are quite different from icebreakers,usually require the light ice-strengthened bow under the floe-ice condition.According to ice-class B,requirements of China Classification Society(CCS),intermediate frames and thick hull plates are necessary for the ice belt area to resist floe-ice impact.However,due to the limited space,it is not practical to set so many intermediate longitudinals from manufacture point of view.In this paper,a modification method is proposed to solve the problem by maintaining the frame spacing and increasing the plate thickness.The aim is to make sure that the bow owns the equivalent ice-bearing capacity with the original frame spacing.At first,a bulk carrier with ice-class B is used for case study.According to the requirements of the ice class rule,a designed ice thickness is used to calculate the ice load acting on the bow area due to the impact of ice floe.Two structural models are presented to perform the strength analysis under ice load,including the out-shell plate model and the longitudinal model.The results show that increasing the plate thickness is helpful to remove the negative effect induced by enlarging the spacing of the longitudinal.A reasonable curve is presented to modify the bow for the ice-strengthened merchant ship,which shows the relationship between the increase of plate thickness and the spacing of longitudinal.Moreover,a model test of floe-ice–ship interaction is conducted to measure the dynamic ice load,based on which nonlinear dynamic FE analysis is used to verify the presented plate-thickness–longitudinal spacing curve.The results show that the proposed method can be used to improve the ice-strengthened bow structure effectively,which provides theoretical foundation to modify the requirement of CCS’s ice class rule.