On maximum forces exerted by floating ice on a structure due to constrained thermal expansion of ice

The problem of interaction between a floating ice cover and an engineering structure is considered, in which the ice–structure contact forces are caused by an increase in ice temperature due to solar radiation in situations, when the lateral thermal expansion of ice is constrained. The focus is on the determination of the maximum thermally-induced horizontal force exerted on a structure wall, assuming that the magnitude of this force is bound by the smallest force capable of fracturing the ice cover due to its buckling. The ice cover is modelled as a rectangular plate of uniform thickness, with its four edges being constrained by vertical rigid walls, and it is assumed that ice deforms, and eventually fails, by the mechanism of viscous creep buckling. The plate is subjected to in-plane axial compressive stresses developing in ice to prevent its thermal expansion due to solar heating, and is transversely (vertically) bent by the forces caused by the reaction of underlying water. The floating ice is treated as a material whose elastic and viscous properties depend on temperature and the ice porosity, and therefore they vary with time and the depth of ice. The results of numerical simulations, conducted for a variety of the ice plate horizontal dimensions, thicknesses and daytime temperature-change scenarios, illustrate the evolution of the plate deflection surface prior to its failure, and show the time variation of the maximum forces exerted by ice on a structure wall as functions of the ice thickness and maximum daytime temperature rise at the top surface of ice.