The Distribution of Ice Pressure Acting on Offshore Pile Structure and the Failure Mechanics of Ice Sheet

1987 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Tanaka ◽  
H. Saeki ◽  
T. Ono

The total ice force acting on offshore pile structures, located in cold regions, has already been investigated by many researchers. Few papers, however, have described the distribution of ice pressure on the structures and the failure mechanics of ice sheet. It is necessary to study them in order to design the pile structures, keeping in mind safety and economic factors. The results of our experiments on failure mechanics of an ice sheet are useful for dynamic analysis. For analysis of stress and, especially, local buckling of structures, it is essential to examine the distribution of ice pressure acting on the structures. This paper describes a systematic study of these aspects through field tests with three rectangular piles (20, 40, 60 cm in width) in Saroma Lagoon in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island, to clarify the effect of aspect ratio. It is clear from our experiments on ice pressure that the distribution of ice pressure can be classified into two types according to the strain rate ε˙ (= V/4B, V: penetration velocity of piles, B: pile width) defined by Michel and Toussaint [1] in each aspect ratio, B/h (h: ice thickness). It is our hypothesis that the failure periods of ice sheet are determined by the aforementioned strain rate and the aspect ratio.

1981 ◽  
Vol 103 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. C. T. Chen

The inclusion of a pressure sensor in an ice sheet will disturb the pressure distribution in the ice sheet. The ratio of undisturbed ice pressure to the pressure felt by the sensor, defined herein as the inclusion factor, is required in interpreting the ice pressure measurement data. An approximate equation which expresses the inclusion factor in terms of the geometry of sensor and the sea ice/pressure sensor stiffnesses ratio is proposed in this study. Some results of analytical work and field tests which were performed to evaluate the accuracy of this expression are also presented. These results demonstrate the validity of the proposed inclusion equation.


1998 ◽  
Vol 44 (148) ◽  
pp. 659-669 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Gogineni ◽  
T. Chuah ◽  
C. Allen ◽  
K. Jezek ◽  
R. K. Moore

AbstractThe University of Kansas developed a coherent radar depth sounder during the 1980s. This system was originally developed for glacial ice-thickness measurements in the -Antarctic. During the field tests in the Antarctic and Greenland, we found the system performance to be less than optimum. The field tests in Greenland were performed in 1993, as a part of the NASA Program for Arctic Climate Assessment (PARCA). We redesigned and rebuilt this system to improve the performance.The radar uses pulse compression and coherent signal processing to obtain high sensitivity and fine along-track resolution. It operates at a center frequency of 150 MHz with a radio frequency bandwidth of about 17 MHz., which gives a range resolution of about 5m in ice. We have been operating it from a NASA P-3 aircraft for collecting ice-thickness data in conjunction with laser surface-elevation measurements over the Greenland ice sheet during the last 4years. We have demonstrated that this radar can measure the thickness of more than 3 km of cold ice and can obtain ice-thickness information over outlet glaciers and ice margins.In this paper we provide a brief survey of radar sounding of glacial ice, followed by a description of the system and subsystem design and performance. We also show sample results from the held experiments over the Greenland ice sheet and its outlet glaciers.


2004 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 439-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weili Wang ◽  
Jun Li ◽  
Jay Zwally ◽  
Vin Morgan ◽  
Tas D. Van Ommen

AbstractAn ice-flow model has been developed and applied to Law Dome, East Antarctica, at the location of the Dome Summit South deep borehole. The results are used to reconstruct an ice-sheet history of accumulation rate, ice thickness and the rate of change in ice thickness. The focus of this study is on the effect of the variation in anisotropic flow properties on the ice-sheet surface elevation change. The enhancement factor, defined as the ratio of the strain rate for anisotropic ice to the strain rate for isotropic ice, is used in the ice-flow relations to account for the anisotropic properties of the ice with fabric development. The model is run with the various ice rheologies which represent anisotropic or isotropic ice-flow properties. The results show that the model incorporating anisotropic flow properties of the ice is more sensitive to the climate-change history.


1988 ◽  
Vol 110 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. S. Wang ◽  
J. P. Poplin

In the winter of 1979/80, five petroleum companies participated in a field test program conducted by Exxon Production Research Company in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to measure the unconfined compressive strength of the sea ice sheet in its full thickness at various strain rates between 10−7 and 8 × 10−5 s−1. As part of this program, ice sample blocks at four different levels in the ice sheet were collected from seven field test sites and shipped to Exxon’s Cold Laboratory in Houston. A total of 221 cylindrical ice samples were made from the ice blocks and tested for their compressive strengths on a closed loop test machine. The sample size was 2.725 in. (6.92 cm) in diameter and 5.75 in. (14.60 cm) long. The strain rate and temperature under which each sample was tested were selected to match actual field test conditions. In addition, 76 thin sections were prepared from tested samples and were studied for the crystallographic structure. Results indicate that local variations of the crystalline structure of the ice sheet could be significant and could cause large variations in the strength of individual samples. The results of the laboratory tests were used to estimate the strength of the full-thickness ice sheet by taking the average value of the through-thickness strength profile. Comparison with field tests shows that this procedure gives very accurate strength estimation for the strain rate range used in the field tests.


1998 ◽  
Vol 44 (148) ◽  
pp. 659-669 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Gogineni ◽  
T. Chuah ◽  
C. Allen ◽  
K. Jezek ◽  
R. K. Moore

Abstract The University of Kansas developed a coherent radar depth sounder during the 1980s. This system was originally developed for glacial ice-thickness measurements in the -Antarctic. During the field tests in the Antarctic and Greenland, we found the system performance to be less than optimum. The field tests in Greenland were performed in 1993, as a part of the NASA Program for Arctic Climate Assessment (PARCA). We redesigned and rebuilt this system to improve the performance. The radar uses pulse compression and coherent signal processing to obtain high sensitivity and fine along-track resolution. It operates at a center frequency of 150 MHz with a radio frequency bandwidth of about 17 MHz., which gives a range resolution of about 5m in ice. We have been operating it from a NASA P-3 aircraft for collecting ice-thickness data in conjunction with laser surface-elevation measurements over the Greenland ice sheet during the last 4years. We have demonstrated that this radar can measure the thickness of more than 3 km of cold ice and can obtain ice-thickness information over outlet glaciers and ice margins. In this paper we provide a brief survey of radar sounding of glacial ice, followed by a description of the system and subsystem design and performance. We also show sample results from the held experiments over the Greenland ice sheet and its outlet glaciers.


1993 ◽  
Vol 39 (131) ◽  
pp. 10-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. Nye

AbstractThe pattern of horizontal strain rate in an ice sheet is discussed from a topological point of view. In a circularly symmetric ice sheet, the isotropic point for strain rate at its centre is degenerate and structurally unstable. On perturbation the degenerate point splits into two elementary isotropic points, each of which has the lemon pattern for the trajectories of principal strain rate. Contour maps of principal strain-rate values are presented which show the details of the splitting.


2001 ◽  
Vol 106 (D24) ◽  
pp. 33761-33772 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Gogineni ◽  
D. Tammana ◽  
D. Braaten ◽  
C. Leuschen ◽  
T. Akins ◽  
...  

1989 ◽  
Vol 35 (121) ◽  
pp. 406-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Reeh

AbstractSimple analytical models are developed in order to study how up-stream variations in accumulation rate and ice thickness, and horizontal convergence/ divergence of the flow influence the age and annual layer-thickness profiles in a steady-state ice sheet. Generally, a decrease/increase of the accumulation rate and an increase/decrease of the ice thickness in the up-stream direction (i.e. opposite to the flow direction) results in older/younger ice at a given depth in the ice sheet than would result if the up-stream accumulation rate and ice thickness were constant along the flow line.Convergence/divergence of the up-stream flow will decrease/increase the effect of the accumulation-rate and ice-thickness gradients, whereas convergence/divergence has no influence at all on the age and layer-thickness profiles if the up-stream accumulation rate and ice thickness are constant along the flow line.A modified column-flow model, i.e. a model for which the strain-rate profile (or, equivalently, the horizontal velocity profile) is constant down to the depth corresponding to the Holocene/Wisconsinan transition 10 750 year BP., seems to work well for dating the ice back to 10 000–11 000 year B P. at sites in the slope regions of the Greenland ice sheet. For example, the model predicts the experimentally determined age profile at Dye 3 on the south Greenland ice sheet with a relative root-mean-square error of only 3% back to c. 10 700 year B.P. As illustrated by the Milcent location on the western slope of the central Greenland ice sheet, neglecting up-stream accumulation-rate and ice-thickness gradients, may lead to dating errors as large as 3000–000 years for c. 10 000 year old ice.However, even if these gradients are taken into account, the simple model fails to give acceptable ages for 10 000 year old ice at locations on slightly sloping ice ridges with strongly divergent flow, as for example the Camp Century location. The main reason for this failure is that the site of origin of the ice cannot be determined accurately enough by the simple models, if the flow is strongly divergent.With this exception, the simple models are well suited for dating the ice at locations where the available data or the required accuracy do not justify application of elaborate numerical models. The formulae derived for the age-depth profiles can easily be worked out on a pocket calculator, and in many cases will be a sensible alternative to using numerical flow models.


2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 551-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Roberts ◽  
R. C. Warner ◽  
D. Young ◽  
A. Wright ◽  
T. D. van Ommen ◽  
...  

Abstract. Ice thickness data over much of East Antarctica are sparse and irregularly distributed. This poses difficulties for reconstructing the homogeneous coverage needed to properly assess underlying sub-glacial morphology and fundamental geometric constraints on sea level rise. Here we introduce a new physically-based ice thickness interpolation scheme and apply this to existing ice thickness data in the Aurora Subglacial Basin region. The skill and robustness of the new reconstruction is demonstrated by comparison with new data from the ICECAP project. The interpolated morphology shows an extensive marine-based ice sheet, with considerably more area below sea-level than shown by prior studies. It also shows deep features connecting the coastal grounding zone with the deepest regions in the interior. This has implications for ice sheet response to a warming ocean and underscores the importance of obtaining additional high resolution data in these marginal zones for modelling ice sheet evolution.


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