| abstracts | The paper concerns the problem of calculation of the maximum horizontal forces that a floating ice cover can exert on isolated, vertical-walled, engineering structures. The analysis is carried out on the assumption that the largest possible force which can occur in a floating ice plate is determined by the elastic buckling failure mechanism. Hence, the buckling loads of a semi-infinite, wedge-shaped in-plane, thin elastic plate resting on a liquid base and pressing against a rigid structure of a limited width, are evaluated. The problem is solved by applying the finite-element method. The results of numerical calculations illustrate the variation of the buckling force with the thickness of ice, the width of the structure, the angle defining the in-plane shape of the plate, and the type of boundary conditions at the ice–structure contact zone. The comparison of the results obtained in this work with those given by approximate analytic estimates available in literature, has shown that the latter considerably overestimate the bearing capacity of ice, therefore new relations are proposed in this paper. |