Abstract
This paper reports on the results of a medium-scale experiment regarding the impact applied by ice floes with a length of 0.6m and with an impact velocity of 0.14 to 7.7 m/s against a pile structure and numerical simulation using the 3-D discrete element method. Ice caused brittle failure/splitting in most cases. The increase rate of maximum impact load due to impact velocity decreased in comparison with that in non-fracture cases. The maximum impact load did not depend on crack initiation for the splitting failure and its propagation, but on the indentation/crashing process into ice in the vicinity the pile. The impact characteristics of timbers as a kind of Tsunami debris were compared to those of ice floes. The impact load of the timber increased linearly with impact velocity, and it was much greater than that of ice floe which causes brittle failure.
