Evaluation of large structural grillages subjected to ice loads in experimental and numerical analysis

Laboratory-grown cone-shaped ice specimens (1 m diameter) were utilized to load large structural grillages into a plastic response domain. The scantlings of the grillages were typical of a transversely framed mid-body ice belt arrangement of a 10,000 ton Ice Class PC6 vessel. The maximum loads reached levels well beyond the elastic limit of the material and any acceptable plastic design point. The tests allowed for an evaluation of highly non-linear structural behavior and overload capacity considering the simultaneous failure of ice. Two separate large structural grillage tests were carried out with ice specimens loaded at a quasi-static loading rate (0.5 mm/s).