Ice Engineering: Viscoelastic Finite Element Formulation.

The most efficient design, construction, and use of polar-ice-shelf facilities for operation and parking of aircraft, cargo storage, and other purposes depends on a thorough and correct engineering analysis of the structural integrity of the sea-ice layer. The viscoelastic finite element analysis technique and computer program developed in this investigation have proven to be an accurate, versatile, and powerful tool for solving a wide class of boundary value problems including ar-bitrary axisymmetric and plane strain geometries subjected to quasi-static, symmetric loading, and layered half-space systems resting on a fluid foundation with arbitrary surface loading. The viscoelastic model includes independent bulk and shear relaxation functions charac-terized by exponential series. The computer program was exercised on several sample problems and compares favorably with classical solutions and experimental data. (Author, modified-PL)