Variations of the Local Failure Pressure With Depth Through First-Year and Multi-Year Ice

Typical vertical distributions of the failure pressure in an ice sheet are presented. The distributions, derived for intermediate strain rates, are a function of many parameters, namely, the salinity, the temperature, the type of ice, the location of the ice pressure area through the ice thickness, the thickness of ice, the density, and the crack and flaw distributions. Two combinations of these parameters lead to “representative” summer and winter vertical ice pressure profiles for 8 and 2-m thick ice floes. The importance of the vertical distribution of the failure pressure inside an ice cover is fundamental for two reasons. The change in the eccentricity of the resultant of the load induces changes in failure mode and load transmission to the structure. This nonuniform distribution will create nonsimultaneous failure and the ice pressure on the structure will not be hydrostatically distributed over a given area.