Abstract
Based on the premise (recently validated by Dempsey’s in-situ tests) that large-scale failure of sea ice is governed by cohesive fracture mechanics, the paper presents simplified analytical solutions for (1) the load capacity of floating ice plate subjected to vertical load and (2) the horizontal force exerted by an ice plated moving against a fixed structure. The solutions clarify the fracture mechanism and agree with the previous numerical simulations based on cohesive fracture mechanics. They confirm the presence of a strong deterministic size effect. For the case of vertical load, the size effect approximately follows the size effect law proposed in 1984 by Bazant. In the case of an ice plate moving against a fixed obstacle, radial cleavage of the ice plate in the direction opposite to ice movement causes a size effect of structure diameter which follows linear elastic fracture mechanics for small enough diameters but becomes progressively weaker as the diameter increases. The present solutions contradict the earlier solutions based on material strength or plasticity theories, which exhibit no size effect.
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