Three-Dimensional Analysis of Ice Sheet Indentation: Limit Analysis Solutions

A method is presented for determining the collapse pressures of an ice sheet subjected to a uniformly distributed edge load by applying the upper-bound theorem of limit analysis. The ice sheet is idealized as a semi-infinite layer of elastic-perfectly plastic material. A quadratic anisotropic yield criterion is used to calculate the indentation pressures. The ice sheet consists of columnar ice and is assumed isotropic in the plane of the ice sheet. Upper-bound solutions are found by optimizing a three-dimensional discontinuous velocity field representing an assumed collapse pattern of the ice sheet. Solutions are based on various ratios of indentor width to ice thickness, thereby providing an envelope of indentation pressures over a range of aspect ratios, from conditions of plane strain to plane stress. Solutions are then compared with corresponding two and three-dimensional lower-bound analyses.