Reliability analysis of ice-induced fatigue and damage in offshore engineering structures

In Bohai Gulf, offshore and other installations have collapsed by sea ice d ue to the fatigue and fracture of the main supporting components in the ice environments. In this paper presented are some results on fatigue reliabil ity of these structures in the Gulf by investigating the distributions of i ce parameters such as its floating direction and speed, sheet thickness, co mpressive strength, ice forces on the structures, and hot spot stress in th e structure. The low temperature, ice breaking modes and component fatigue failure modes are also taken into account in the analysis of the fatigue re liability of the offshore structures experiencing both random ice loading a nd low temperatures. The results could be applied to the design and operati on of offshore platforms in the Bohai Gulf.