Numerical Simulation of an Ice Beam in Four-Point Bending Using SPH

The flexural strength of sea ice is crucial for ice going vessels and hence the knowledge of mechanical properties of ice is very important for the design of such vessels. The primary objective of this investigation is the numerical simulation of sea ice in four-point bending using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH), which being a mesh free method offers a lot of advantages over traditional grid-based approaches. The numerical results will be compared to earlier simulations of in-situ four-point bending test results in terms of force, displacement and failure time. Further, the comparison of the SPH-based numerical simulations with the available literature will serve as a basis to discuss the potential advantages and shortcomings of the mesh free particle method used to model flexural failure of sea ice.