Ice-induced vibrations and scaling

Ice moving against a fixed structure such as an offshore platform can induce severe vibrations. Vibrations can lead to fatigue damage and reduce the efficiency and disturb the sleep of people working on the platform. They have been observed in both full-scale structures and models, but the subject has lacked a rational way of linking one to the other. This paper presents a dimensional analysis of the problem, and shows that there is a correlation between the different kinds of cyclic movement that occur and a dimensionless parameter akin to reduced velocity in vortex-induced vibration. The correlation appears to apply over a wide range of structure dimensions and ice thicknesses.