Re-evaluation of ice loads on the Molikpaq structure measured during the 1985–86 season

From National Research Council Canada

DOIResolve DOI: https://doi.org/10.1139/cjce-2016-0444
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Name affiliation
  1. National Research Council Canada. Ocean, Coastal and River Engineering
FormatText
TypeArticle
Journal titleCanadian Journal of Civil Engineering
ISSN0315-1468
1208-6029
Volume45
Issue3
Pages153–166
Subjectice engineering; ice mechanics; offshore technology; design; reliability analyses; steel structure; mécanique des glaces; technologie de forage et de production en mer; conception; analyses de fiabilité; charpente métallique
Abstract
The Molikpaq drilling platform, a steel annulus filled with sand, 90 m wide, was deployed at the Amauligak I-65 location in the Beaufort Sea during the 1985–1986 winter. It was heavily instrumented for measurement of ice loads, using strain gauges, extensometers, and Medof panels. The original calibrations of the Medof panels were used to estimate loads. Calibration was carried out using uniform pressures up to 1.86 MPa. The actual loading in the field of the Medof panels was extremely non-uniform spatially, particularly during ice crushing, and is very different from that in the original calibration. The resulting high pressures led to softening of the polyurethane buttons in the panels, including the Mullins effect. The panels were consequently reading too high. Extensometer readings, geotechnical measurements, and those pertaining to a decelerating floe impacting the structure, support the conclusion that actual ice loads were about half those obtained using the original Medof panel calibrations.
Publication date
PublisherNRC Research Press
LanguageEnglish
Peer reviewedYes
NPARC number23002844
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