Abstract

The design of fixed structures for operations in ice environments presents challenges, particularly in terms of determining appropriate levels of structural strengthening for extreme ice loads and accounting for potential ice-induced vibrations in design. The development of improved models of dynamic ice-structure interactions depends significantly on understanding the physics and mechanics of ice compressive failure to enable the effective modelling of ice loads and associated coupling with structural response. While the compressive failure of ice is highly complex, significant progress has been made in recent years in understanding and modelling salient aspects of ice failure during dynamic ice-structure interactions. In this lecture, emphasis is placed on processes associated with the formation and evolution of high-pressure zones (hpzs) and associated load-limiting mechanisms that occur during dynamic ice crushing failure. Recent advances in ice mechanics are discussed, a long with results of recent medium-scale laboratory tests focused on supporting the development of a probabilistic, multi-scale modelling framework as a basis for integrating advances in fundamental ice physics with full-scale ice loads on rigid and compliant structures.