Towards uncertainty and sensitivity analysis for modal parameters identification during ice–structure interaction

Abstract

The integrity of offshore structures is prone to the threat of drifting sea ice. By exciting the natural frequencies of the ice–structure interaction system, severe vibrations may occur. For a better understanding of how dynamic ice–structure interaction affects the system properties, a stochastic subspace system identification technique, SSI-cov is introduced to identify modal parameters during dynamic ice–structure interactions. Due to the uncertain input variables of SSI-cov, the identified modal parameters suffer from the quantitative judgment of the analyst. To address this problem, this study proposes an uncertainty analysis (UA) framework to obtain estimates of modal parameters. This framework constitutes both a sensitivity analysis (SA) and a UA. First, SA is applied to pick up the input variables that contribute the most to the identified modal parameters. Next, the important variables are left free to vary over their range of existence to obtain the modal parameters’ uncertainties. The framework is applied to full-scale tests from Norströmsgrund lighthouse and model tests carried out in Hamburg Ship Model Basin (HSVA). The comparison with traditional automated modal parameter identification shows its superiority in terms of the accuracy of modal parameters.