Sea ice parameters for actions on offshore structures in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas

The primary purpose of this dissertation was to examine sea ice features in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, on behalf of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. The secondary objective was to examine equations that estimate sea ice actions on structures. Sixteen datasets of sea ice draft and velocity data were used for analysis. Ice features, such as pressure ridges and level ice were identified and studied. Characteristics such as ridge draft, width, velocity, and level ice thickness were examined using probability theory and other analysis methods. From the analysis a Weibull probability density function was found to best fit the ridge draft data. A Monte Carlo simulation was employed to compare theoretically computed sea ice loads to recorded loads from literature. The simulation suggested that the methodology in the ISO 19906 may be conservative for first-year ridges but not conservative for first-year level ice