An experimental study of interaction process between sea ice and variable stiffness elastic plates at various speeds

To investigate the impact of structural deformation on the interaction between ice and structures, a small-scale indentation test was executed in a low temperature laboratory, utilizing elastic plates and frozen ice. The experiment primarily concentrated on the effect of structural stiffness on the interaction process at various velocities. Three strain rates, corresponding to the ductile and brittle failure modes of ice, were chosen. The compression stiffness ratio of the elastic plates to the ice sample was a critical variable, encompassing the influence of six distinct stiffness scenarios. Test results indicate that structural deformation modifies the relative velocity at which the structure penetrates into the ice and alters the distribution of high-pressure zones on the contact surface. Changes in structural stiffness impact both the location and extent of these high-pressure zones, resulting in shifts in ice failure modes and, subsequently, affecting the magnitude of the load. The nominal peak pressure tends to rise with greater structural stiffness but decreases with faster loading rates. The effect of variations in the relative interaction rates between ice and structure, caused by deformation, on the load magnitude appears to be less pronounced than that resulting from changes in contact position and area induced by deformation. • Applying tactile sensor to the interface reveals that interaction pressures between ice and the plate are highly non-uniform. • The dominant mechanism for plate elasticity to change load magnitudes lies in the changes in the contact positions and areas. • Structural stiffness affects the location and size of high-pressure zones, thus altering ice failure mode and load magnitude.