STRESS CONCENTRATION IN FLOATING ICE WITH A SLOTTED-SHAPE OPENING

摘要

Ice cover has been used as a working platform for both offshore and onshore operations in subarctic region. This idea can be extended to subsurface inspection and repair of existing structures by providing an opening in the floating ice to facilitate easier access and to enable the use of more readily available land based equipment as compared to the more expensive access by water when the ice has melted. Reliable stress analysis has been carried out, utilising the Finite Element Method to study the induced ice stresses for a moving load near access openings. Two slot shapes for the opening have been considered and the results have been compared against the conventional cases of a continuous plate and a half-space plate with an open edge. The results indicate higher ice stresses in the opening slots and sensitivity of the ice stresses to the opening shape. The optimization of the opening shape can result in lower ice stresses and improve operational safety.