Experimental Investigation of Ice Mass Hydrodynamic Interaction With Offshore Structure in Close Proximity
Iceberg/bergy bit impact load with fixed and floating offshore structures and supply ships is an important design consideration in ice-prone regions. Studies tend to divide the iceberg impact problem into phases from far field to contact. This results in a tendency to over simplify the final crucial stage where the structure is impacted. The authors have identified knowledge gaps and their influence on the analysis and prediction of iceberg impact velocities and loads (Sayeed et. al (2014)). The experimental and numerical study of viscous dominated very near field region is the main area of interest. This paper reports preliminary results of physical model tests conducted at Ocean Engineering Research Center (OERC) to investigate hydrodynamic interaction between ice masses and fixed offshore structure in close proximity. The objective was to perform a systematic study from simple to complex phenomena which will be a support base for the development of subsequent numerical models. The results demonstrated that hydrodynamic proximity and wave reflection effects do significantly influence the impact velocities at which ice masses approach to large structures. The effect is more pronounced for smaller ice masses.