OCE2018 A-116 - Loads, design and operation of floaters in the Arctic - Ptil – NORD ST20

This report presents results from hydrodynamic analysis of interaction between glacial ice and semisubmersible drilling units, as part of the Petroleum Safety Authority's project "NORD ST20 Loads, design and operation of floaters in the northern area". The overall objective of the study has been to study the hydrodynamic behaviour of smaller masses of glacial ice (growlers or bergy bits) exposed to environmental loads, and to assess the hydrodynamic interaction and possibility of collision with a semisubmersible drilling unit. Comprehensive numerical analysis of ice mass response in waves have been performed, with focus on nonlinear Froude-Krylov forces and hydrodynamic interactions due to the near presence of a larger semisubmersible. Position of impact, impact velocity and impact energy have been estimated in cases when collision between the ice mass and semisubmersible occurred.