Numerical estimation of ship resistance in broken ice and investigation on the effect of floe geometry

In this paper, a numerical model based on the non-smooth discrete element method is presented to investigate the effect of ice floe shape on ship resistance under low-concentration broken ice condition where ice fields consist of relatively small and unbreakable floes. The accuracy of the numerical model is validated by the comparison with a series of experiments conducted by the authors with artificial ice floes made from polypropylene (PP) material. The mean ice resistance estimated by the numerical model is in fairly good agreement with both the experimental results and those from the existing semi-empirical formulas. Additionally, the floe shape effect captured in the experiment, i.e. “rectangle-like” floes results in higher resistance than “elliptic-like” floes, is also predicted by the numerical model. Then, the validated numerical model is used to further investigate the effect of floe shape on ship resistance. It has been found that the rectangle floe results in higher ice resistance than other studied floe shapes. The ratio between the maximum and minimum caliper diameters of floe shows little influence on the ice resistance of ship. Finally, the effect of ice thickness on the ice resistance is also discussed.     

GIS-aided prediction for sea-ice distribution

A method of applying the geographic information system (GIS) to predict sea-ice distribution is proposed. The prediction computations are performed using the distributed mass/discrete floe (DMDF) model. The GIS is used to prepare the initial data for the DMDF model, and to display the simulation results together with a digital map and observational data for evaluation and further use. Two areas in the Arctic Ocean were selected to test the computations in this study. The results of the case studies show that this method can help with (1) free-area and free-scale prediction fitting for various purposes, (2) a high-resolution output to provide more detailed data, and (3) a reasonable combination of different data sets to make the best use of the information obtained. The results also suggest that the DMDF model is a good simulation of the ice motion not only for large-scale but also for local-scale predictions. Received: March 19, 2002 / Accepted: June 20, 2002 Acknowledgments. This study was financially supported by the Japan Science and Technology Corporation. The SSM/I sea-ice data were obtained from the EOSDIS NSIDC Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), University of Colorado at Boulder. The authors thank the persons concerned. Address correspondence to: H. Yamaguchi (yama@fluidlab.naoe.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp)     

冰区运输船极地海域航行阻力的模型试验研究（英文）

为了考查冰区运输船在北极结冰海域航行时所受到的航行阻力,进行了一系列室内物理模型试验。试验中船体模型通过一个单向测力传感器与主拖车上的刚性拖曳臂相连。试验包含三种主要的冰条件,即船体独立航行的平整冰条件、在破冰船引导下航行的航道碎冰条件和独立航行的浮冰条件。平整冰及航道碎冰条件下对多种船体航行速度进行考察,而浮冰条件下则针对不同的冰覆盖率展开研究。试验中对冰-船相互作用模式、冰排在船体不同位置处的破坏进程以及碎冰沿船体的运动状态进行了详尽的观测,并对船体的航行阻力进行了有效的测量。此外,文中还对航行阻力均值与极值之间的差异进行了详尽的讨论与分析。结果表明,冰条件与船体航行速度是影响船体航行阻力的重要因素。     

Ship resistance when operating in floating ice floes: A combined CFD&DEM approach

Whilst climate change is transforming the Arctic into a navigable ocean where small ice floes are floating on the sea surface, the effect of such ice conditions on ship performance has yet to be understood. The present work combines a set of numerical methods to simulate the ship-wave-ice interaction in such ice conditions. Particularly, Computational Fluid Dynamics is applied to provide fluid solutions for the floes and it is incorporated with the Discrete Element Method to govern ice motions and account for ship-ice/ice-ice collisions, by which, the proposed approach innovatively includes ship-generated waves in the interaction. In addition, this work provides two algorithms that can implement computational models with natural ice-floe fields, which takes floe size distribution and randomness into consideration thus achieving high-fidelity modelling of the problem. Following validation against experiments, the model is shown accurate in predicting the ice-floe resistance of a ship, and then a series of simulations are performed to investigate how the resistance is influenced by ship speed, ice concentration, ice thickness and floe diameter. This paper presents a useful approach that can provide power estimates for Arctic shipping and has the potential to facilitate other polar engineering purposes.     

Repeatability of ice-tank tests with broken ice

This study investigates the repeatability of ice-tank tests with broken ice. Ice-tank test campaigns normally do not perform multiple repetitions of tests with the same initial conditions. Therefore, the repeatability of ice-tank tests with broken ice is not well understood. Data from two test campaigns are analysed. The first test campaign studied the interaction between a 4-legged structure with a vertical waterline and several broken and intact level ice conditions. In the second test campaign, a ship hull geometry was tested. We analyse selected test cases from each test campaign. The ice-tank tests are reproduced using a 3-D discrete element method (DEM) model. Each analysed test case is simulated 20 times. The only difference between each simulation is the initial position of the ice floes. The numerical simulation results show that changes in the initial floe positions can cause large changes in the statistical properties of the ice load. Often, a single random interaction event can be identified that is responsible for the change in the results. Such interaction events can cause additional floe accumulation ahead of the structure, thereby influencing the load statistics for a large portion of the interaction length. The observed events occur both in the numerical simulations and in the physical ice-tank tests. This result indicates that ice-tank tests with broken ice have a poor repeatability; a change in an uncontrolled condition, such as the exact initial floe positions, can lead to a large variation in the experimental results.     

船舶与冰排碰撞结构响应研究

冰排的层厚、流速以及特性在很大程度上影响船舶与冰排碰撞的结构响应。本文分别建立船舶和冰排的有限元模型,采用LS-DYNA进行碰撞接触计算,模拟船艏与冰排发生碰撞。主要考虑相同条件下分别改变冰排厚度、运动状态以及物理性质等单个碰撞参数,对比研究不同碰撞工况下船舶的损伤变形、碰撞力等结构响应差异。得出上述因素对船—冰碰撞的影响规律,为提高船舶抗冰载荷设计提供参考。     

Ship resistance when operating in floating ice floes: Derivation,validation, and application of an empirical equation

With the effects of global warming, the Arctic is presenting a new environment where numerous ice floes are floating on the open sea surface. Whilst this has improved Arctic shipping navigability in an unprecedented way, the interaction of such floes with ships is yet to be understood to aid the designing of ships and route planning for this region. To further explore this topic, the present work develops a procedure to derive an empirical equation that can predict the effects of such floes on ship resistance. Based on a validated computational approach, extensive data are extracted from simulations of three different ships with varying operational and environmental conditions. The ice-floe resistance is shown to strongly correlate with ship beam, ship buttock angle, ship waterline angle, ship speed, ice concentration, ice thickness and floe diameter, and the regression powers of each of the parameters on resistance are ascertained. This leads to a generic empirical equation that can swiftly predict ice-floe resistance for a given ship in a given condition. Subsequently, demonstrations are given on the incorporation of the derived equation into a set of real-time Arctic ship performance model and voyage planning tool, which can predict a ship's fuel consumption in ice-infested seas and dynamically suggest a route with the least safety concern and fuel consumption. Moreover, the equation is validated by providing ice resistance prediction for experimental and full-scale conditions from multiple sources, showing high accuracy. In conclusion, the empirical equation is shown to give valid and rapid estimates for ice-floe resistance, providing valuable insights into ship designs for the region, as well as facilitating practical applications for polar navigation.     

中国新型极地考察船冰载荷预估研究

本文针对中国新型极地考察船所受冰载荷进行了研究,其中包含了平整冰阻力和浮冰碰撞力.对于船舶设计者和建造者来说,船舶冰载荷的预估非常重要.本文采用经验公式方法计算了该船在平整冰中航行的冰阻力,并且与模型试验结果进行了对比.结果显示,计算和试验结果中的冰阻力都随船舶航行速度的增大而增大,经验公式方法可以预测出合理的平整冰阻力.通过计算得到了该船的性能曲线,即该船在不同厚度平整冰中航行所能达到的速度.此外,本文还考虑了该船与圆形浮冰之间的三维斜向碰撞问题,采用解析方法评估了浮冰对船舶的撞击力,研究了撞击位置、法向框架角度以及浮冰尺寸对碰撞力的影响.基于计算结果,本文就冰载荷的预测进行了讨论并提出了一些建议.     

极地平整冰区运输船航行阻力的模型试验研究（英文）

This study investigates the resistance of a transport ship navigating in level ice by conducting a series of model tests in an ice tank at Tianjin University. The laboratory-scale model ship was mounted on a rigid carriage using a one-directional load cell and then towed through an ice sheet at different speeds. We observed the ice-breaking process at different parts of the ship and motion of the ice floes and measured the resistances under different speeds to determine the relationship between the ice-breaking process and ice resistance. The bending failure at the shoulder area was found to cause maximum resistance. Furthermore, we introduced the analytical method of Lindqvist(1989) for estimating ice resistance and then compared these calculated results with those from our model tests. The results indicate that the calculated total resistances are higher than those we determined in the model tests.     

Experimental study on the resistance of a transport ship navigating in level ice

This study investigates the resistance of a transport ship navigating in Arctic waters by conducting a series of model tests in an ice tank at Tianjin University. The laboratory-scale model ship was mounted on a rigid carriage using a one-directional load cell and then towed through an ice sheet at different speeds. We observed the ice-breaking process at different parts of the ship and motion of the ice floes and measured the resistances under different speeds to determine the relationship between the ice-breaking process and the ice resistance. The bending failure at the shoulder area was found to cause maximum resistance. Furthermore, we introduced the analytical method of Lindqvist (1989) for estimating ice resistance and then compared these calculated results with those from our model tests. The results indicate that the calculated total resistances are higher than those we determined in the model tests.     

Short-term statistics of ice loads on ship bow frames in floe ice fields: Full-scale measurements in the Antarctic ocean

Ship operation and ice loading in floe ice fields have received considerable interest during recent years. There have been several numerical simulators developed by different institutes which can simulate ship navigation through floe ice fields and estimate ship performance and local ice loads. However, public data obtained from full-scale measurement covering comprehensively ship performance and ice loads under various ice thicknesses, concentrations and floe sizes are rare. The 2018/19 Antarctic voyage of the Polar Supply and Research Vessel (PSRV) S.A. Agulhas II gathered considerable data of the ship in floe ice fields under various thicknesses, concentrations, and floe sizes. The aim of this paper is to carry out statistical analysis to seek suitable probability distributions which adequately fit the measured ice load and therefore suitable to be used as parent distributions for long-term estimation. For this aim, three categories of probability distributions, namely standard distributions, truncated distributions and mixture distributions are tested. It is found that truncated distributions can fit the load data better than standard distributions bounded at the threshold. In addition, mixture distributions are shown to have promising features, which fit the data well and are able to separate distribution components. Subsequentially, the well-performed distributions are used as parent distributions to make long-term load estimations. The estimation results demonstrate that long-term estimations are sensitive to the selection of parent distribution, which addresses the importance of finding correct distribution to model short-term ice loads. The data of ten selected cases will be published for the use of other researchers.     

Glacial ice impacts: Part I: Wave-driven motion and small glacial ice feature impacts

Glacial ice features in the northern and central Barents Sea may threaten ships and offshore structures. Particularly, small glacial ice features, which are difficult to detect and manage by concurrent technologies, are of concern. Additionally, small glacial ice features are more susceptible to wave-driven oscillatory motions, which increases their pre-impact kinetic energy and may damage ships and offshore structures. This paper is part of three related papers. An initial paper (Monteban et al., 2020) studied glacial ice features’ drift, size distribution and encounter frequencies with an offshore structure in the Barents Sea. The following two papers (Paper I and Paper II) further performed glacial ice impact studies, including impact motion analysis (Paper I) and structural damage assessment (Paper II). This paper (Paper I) studies the wave-driven motion of small glacial ice features and their subsequent impact with a given offshore structure. The aim here is to develop a numerical model that is capable of efficiently calculating the relative motion between the ice feature and structure and to sample a sufficient amount of impact events from which statistical information can be obtained. The statistical information entails the distributions of the impact location and associated impact velocities. Given the distributions of the impact velocities at different locations, we can quantify the kinetic energy for related impact scenarios for a further structural damage assessment in Paper II (Yu et al., 2020).In Paper I, a numerical model that separately calculates the wave-driven oscillatory motion and the mean drift motion of small glacial ice features is proposed, implemented and validated. Practical and fit-for-purpose hydrodynamic simplifications are made to simulate and sample sufficient impact events. The numerical model has been favourably validated against existing numerical results and experimental data. A case study is presented where a 10 m wide glacial ice feature is drifting under the influence of surface waves towards an offshore structure. The case study shows that if an impact happens, the overall impact location and impact velocity can be best fitted by the Normal and Weibull distributions, respectively. Additionally, the impact velocity increases with impact height. Moreover, the impact velocity increases and the impact range is more dispersed in a higher sea state. It is also important to notice that the approaches and methods proposed in this paper adhere to and reflect the general requirements stated in ISO19906 (2019) and NORSOK N-003 (2017) for estimating the design kinetic energy for glacial ice impacts.     

A comparative analysis of the fluid-structure interaction method and the constant added mass method for ice-structure collisions

The constant added mass (CAM) method and the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) method are widely used to simulate ship-ship and ship-ice collisions. In the CAM method, the hydrodynamic effect of the surrounding water is treated as a constant added mass, whereas in the FSI method the surrounding fluid flow is explicitly modelled. The objective of the paper is to compare the two methods and to explain the causes of the differences in the results. We considered collision between a freshwater ice mass and a floating steel structure. For both methods, the numerical simulations were performed with the LS-DYNA software. The behaviour of the ice mass was modelled using an elliptic yield criterion and a strain-based pressure-dependent failure criterion. To ensure realistic ice behaviour, the ice model was calibrated using general trends found in laboratory and in-situ indentation tests with focus on the laboratory-grown ice and the fluid model in the LS-DYNA was verified by comparing the added mass coefficients for a spherical body and a rectangular block with the corresponding WADAM results. To validate and benchmark the numerical simulations, experimental data on ice-structure interactions in water were used, including the acceleration of the floater wall measured with the dynamic motion unit (DMU), the relative velocity between the ice mass and the floater before the impact and some images extracted from video recording of the test. The comparisons indicated that the FSI method yields better results for the motion of the floater, i.e., the acceleration of the floater wall caused by the ice mass’s impact and the relative velocity were in reasonably good agreement with experimental measurements. It was also found that the CAM method was faster but predicted a higher peak contact force and more dissipated energy in the ice mass than in the FSI method.     

潜艇在海洋密度锋中受绕运动建模与仿真研究

根据分析潜艇通过海洋密度锋区的受力特点,建立潜艇在海洋密度锋中的受力和垂直面运动模型。通过潜艇垂直面运动仿真,分析自由运动、PID操舵控制、操舵加均衡控制和综合运用增速、操舵加均衡控制等情形下海洋密度锋对潜艇纵倾角、潜浮角和升沉运动的影响,结果表明综合运用操舵、增速和均衡进行控制可以更为有效地控制潜艇在海洋锋区航行深度和运动姿态。     

The importance of polynyas, ice edges, and leads to marine mammals and birds

The correlation between areas of open water in ice-covered seas and increased biological productivity has been noted for some time. To date, most attention has been focused on larger polynyas, such as the Northeast Water and the Northwater. Although spectacular in their own right, these large polynyas represent only part of a vitally important continuum of biological productivity that varies significantly between geographic areas and ice habitats, that includes the multi-year pack of the polar ocean and small localized polynyas in annual ice. Surveys of the distribution and abundance of ringed seals in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago have shown differences in density that are correlated with the presence or absence of polynyas. There is also significant variation in the biological productivity of polynya areas of the Canadian High Arctic Archipelago and northern Greenland, all of which receive inflow from the polar basin. Long-term studies of polar bears and ringed seals in western Hudson Bay and the eastern Beaufort Sea show significant but dissimilar patterns of change in condition and reproductive rates between the two regions and suggest that fundamentally different climatic or oceanographic processes may be involved. Projections of climate models suggest that, if warming occurs, then the extent of ice cover in Hudson Bay may be among the first things affected. Long-term studies of polar bears and ringed seals in the eastern Beaufort Sea and Hudson Bay would suggest these two species to be suitable indicators of significant climatic or oceanographic changes in the marine ecosystem.     

Full scale ice sea trials of Korean ice breaking research vessel ‘Araon’ on the big floes near Antarctica

A speed sea trial was performed in the Amundsen Sea in February and March of 2012. The Korean ice breaking research vessel “Araon” was used to check speed performance on the big floes. Two of ice trial cases were carried out. We describe the time history of location, the engine power, and the revolutions per minute during the ice trial, and the trajectory of the ship. Additionally, the measured ice properties are considered and discussed. The ice trial results were analyzed according to variation in ice thicknesses, ice strength, propulsion power, and the speed level of the ship. Our analysis results are compared to model test results and ice trial results. A correction to the target ice thickness was used to compare the power and speed relation in the same ice thickness because it is easy to know the relative speed performance of the ship. The Hamburgische Schiffbau-Versuchs Anstalt method was applied for the correction. The speed of Araon in big floes was higher than the speed in level ice. The speed after the correction at 10 MW of power and 103 cm of ice thickness was 5.4 knots based on analysis results.     

受压结构稳定性的无损检测分析方法研究

针对海洋工程结构物在工程上的应用逐年增多的趋势,采用连续介质力学一般理论,由弹性动力学基本方程出发,将运动方程与静态屈曲问题的本征方程相结合,推导了承压结构的压力载荷与结构固有圆频率相关联的运动方程.得到了屈曲问题的临界荷载与固有频率之间的关系表达式,最后给出了耐压结构稳定性的无损检测分析方法.     

引江济汉通航工程进口段平面布置及通航条件优化

用水流物理模型、遥控自航船模、水流数学模型和船舶操纵运动数学模型相结合的研究方法对引江济汉通航工程进口段平面布置及通航条件进行研究。首先阐述设计方案通航工程与长江交汇口、进口龙洲垸船闸下游航道及荆江大堤通航孔等各区域的通航条件,详细分析设计方案影响通航水流条件的各个因素,针对设计方案在通航水流条件上的不足,通过采取多种工程措施改善其通航水流条件,提出满足船舶安全航行的优化布置方案。     

辽东湾北部浅水区海冰对航行的影响及对策

辽东湾北部浅水区有许多石油开发区块,由于水浅有冰等因素,使在现有的破冰船和冰区航行技术条件下的航行十分困难。分沿岸冻结区、滩涂堆积区和流冰区等不同区带讨论辽东湾北部海冰存在特征以及海冰对航行的影响,并根据海冰存在特点和海域工程的具体特性提出相应的对策。     

Numerical Simulation of Turret Moored Ship Performance in Variable Ice Drift Based on Heading Control

The frequent change in ice drift direction poses a significant challenge for turret moored ship in ice. Variability in ice drift is mainly caused by the winds and currents. To solve this problem, a new method with numerical simulation based on heading control is applied to reduce the risk of operation of The Arctic Tandem Offloading Terminal(ATOT),which includes an offloading icebreaker(OIB) moored to a submerged turret and a shuttle tanker moored at the stern of the OIB in this paper. An icebreaking tanker, MT Uikku, was modeled in a simulation program. Then the level ice load on the tanker was calculated with different ice thicknesses and drift speeds, after which a heading controller assisted with mooring system is used to simulate the horizontal motion of the tanker under the ice action.