Experimental Investigation of Aspects Influencing the Level Ice Resistance of Ships With Non-Typical Icebreaking Bow Shapes

Abstract For non-typical icebreaking ships the hull-ice interaction process in level ice comprises a combination of many different phenomena which is difficult to be described by existing straightforward approaches. In order to gain knowledge about the operability of such non-typical hull shapes in level ice, a study has been carried out to identify and evaluate the level ice resistance as well as its distribution along the hull of ships with non-typical icebreaking bow shapes with high stem and/or small waterline angles. For this purpose, one ship model has been manufactured and instrumented with several multi-axis load cells in the bow region of the waterline as well as with one large six-component load scale between the bow and the stern. Performing resistance model tests at several loading conditions in model ice sheets of different thickness and at multiple speed values allows obtaining relevant information to meet the goals of the study. The developed methodology and the analysis of the measured loads have been described in previous publications. As direct continuation, the present paper focuses on investigation of the ice floe characteristics and its linkage to the ice properties. Moreover, analysis results related to the crushing portion of the total resistance in ice, the friction between ice and ship model hull as well as the ship model motions during ice model testing are presented within the paper.