Abstract
Wave driven iceberg and bergy bits’ impact load with an offshore structure is an important design concern. Hydrodynamic interaction between iceberg / bergy bit and an offshore structure in close proximity is an important factor that governs the impact load. Recently, a set of experiments has been conducted at Ocean Engineering Research Center (OERC) at Memorial University of Newfoundland to measure the wave loads on different sized spherical ice masses at different proximity to a fixed structure. A six component dynamometer was used to measure the loads in a quasi-static manner in six regular head waves. The objective was to investigate change in wave loads as the ice mass approaches to the structure. The experimental results show that the distance to wavelength ratio dictates the corresponding wave loads in horizontal and vertical directions. The mean drift force in the horizontal direction becomes negative (against the direction of wave propagation) for most of the cases when the body is close to the structure. Also, as the body is positioned closer to the structure, the non-dimensional RMS forces in the horizontal direction decrease and the non-dimensional RMS forces in the vertical direction increase.
