Random Ice Forces on Conical Structures

Random ice forces on narrow conical structures are analysed based on direct ice force measurements by load panels. When an ice sheet fails by bending, the ice force variation can be considered as a series of triangular impulses. Yue et al. (1998) gave a load function with three constant parameters for this loading. In this paper, the statistical distributions of the period and the amplitude of the ice force are studied. It is found that when the ice sheet is uniform the ice force period is close to a normal distribution, or log normal distribution depending on the hardness of the ice. The ice force amplitude is close to a normal distribution. Based on these statistical parameters, a time-varying force function with random period and amplitude is suggested for narrow conical structures.