L-year maximum values of local ice loads on ship hulls

Abstract

Kujala (1996) proposed a semi-empirical evaluation of long term ice loads on a ship hull. The work seems to be the first of its kind to include variation of ice conditions throughout the lifetime of the vessel as part of the statistical analysis. The ice condition was represented by a winter maximum equivalent ice thickness, heq, which varies from year to year. However, the method requires long term1 INTRODUCTIONThe magnitude of extreme ice loads acting on ship hulls during the entire service life is required in order to achieve an adequate design. Here, such an estimated extreme value is referred to as the L-year maximum of the ice-induced load. This extreme value should only be exceeded with a sufficiently small probability with respect to the applicable long term extreme distribution of the ice load.