Experimental and numerical study on ice resistance for icebreaking vessels

ABSTRACT:Ice resistance is defined as the time average of all longitudinal forces due to ice acting on the ship. Estimation of ship’s resistance in ice-covered waters is very important to both designers and shipbuilders since it is closely related to propulsion of a ship and it determines the engine power of the ship. Good ice performance requires ice resistance should be as low as possible to allow different manoeuvres. In this paper, different numerical methods are presented to calculate ice resistance, including semi-analytical method and empirical methods. A model test of an icebreaking vessel that was done in an ice basin has been introduced for going straight ahead in level ice at low speed. Then the comparison between model test results and numerical results are made. Some discussions and suggestions are presented as well to provide an insight into icebreaking vessel design at early stage.