CALCULATION OF ICEBERG IMPACT FORCES

Development of petroleum resources located on the Grand Banks means that icebergs must be considered. Platforms must either be capable of withstanding iceberg impact forces or withdrawing from the path of the drifting iceberg. For a large, permanent production platform like the one proposed for Hibernia, iceberg impacts are to be resisted. For the structural designer, the starting point is specification of the design loads to be resisted by a given structure. Several deterministic algorithms that were considered during this investigation are outlined and reviewed. One of these approaches was selected to form the core of a stochastic computer program for iceberg impact loads. This paper summarises the procedure undertaken to select the deterministic iceberg impact load algorithm and the reasons for the selection that was made. Examples are given to illustrate the differences among the various methods. The platform used in the examples is that proposed for production of the Hibernia field located off the Canadian east coast.