Ice actions are the result of interactions between various ice features and the structure. The shape and size of the structure, the ice conditions, and the environmental driving actions can result in a number of different interaction scenarios, failure modes and resulting ice actions. Factors that can influence the scenarios are illustrated in the following figure:
For traditional engineering calculations, among the many parameters shown above, we need to select at least the limiting mechanism, possible failure modes, etc. based on our engineering experience, before we can use the relevant formulas. SAMS, on the other hand, does not require you to make such selections. Given the structure and ice conditions, the final ice actions (together with the relevant limiting mechanism and failure modes) are the natural outcomes of your simulations.