Seismic analysis of rectangular water-containing structures with floating ice blocks

This paper presents a new formulation to investigate the effects of floating ice blocks on seismically-excited rectangular water-containing structures. The proposed method is based on a sub-structuring approach, where the flexible containing structure and ice-added mass are modeled using finite elements, while hydrodynamic effects are modeled analytically through interaction forces at the water–structure and water–ice interfaces, thus eliminating the need for reservoir finite element discretization. In addition to accounting for the influence of floating ice blocks and container wallsʹ flexibility, the developed frequency- and time-domain techniques also include the effects of container geometrical or material asymmetry as well as the coupling between convective and impulsive components of hydrodynamic pressure. The proposed formulation is illustrated through a numerical example illustrating the dynamic response of symmetric and asymmetric water-containing structures covered with floating ice blocks. Obtained time- and frequency-domain responses are successfully validated against advanced finite element analyses including fluid–structure interaction capabilities. For the water-containing structures studied, the results show that the presence of floating ice blocks affects the frequency content and amplitudes of the dynamic responses corresponding to convective and impulsive modes.