Synergies Between VLFS Hydroelasticity And Sea-Ice Research

A conspicuous overlap exists between publications that describe how sea-ice responds to an ocean wave field and those that relate to a very large floating structure (VLFS) experiencing comparable forcing. Contemporary hydroelastic theory has been developed concurrently yet independently despite the similarity of the topics being studied and the methods being applied. While sea-ice is a natural heterogeneous material that shows variability on all spatial scales, e.g. it may contain cracks, open and refrozen leads, pressure ridges, or gradual or abrupt changes of thickness or property, VLFSs can also be nonuniform – particularly when they are manufactured from several interconnected parts with differing material moduli or shapes. In this work the basic mathematical theory and physics is developed that characterizes hydroelasticity, drawing from both corpora and calling attention to connexions and interpretations that could benefit both spheres of research. Particular attention is given to explaining apparently unrelated analyses where an underlying relationship exists that is not necessarily plainly evident.