This was a Joint Industry Project (JIP) with the Minerals Management Service and the Canadian National Energy Board. The objective was to better understand flow fracture as a load limiting mechanism for Arctic platforms using large scale experiments. The first phase of the program consisted experimenting with different field techniques and developing new instrumentation for the precise measurement of ice fracture parameters. The second phase examined a series of field fractures under complex loading conditions. Two field programs were conducted. The first was in a fresh water lake to study fractures under different scales and under stable and unstable conditions. The second investigated the fracture of first year sea ice at full thickness under several loading conditions. A theoretical ice flow splitting model was tested and compared with laboratory data.
Complete