A review of numerical modelling techniques for marine icing applications

Ice accretion reduces the stability, reliability, productivity, and safe operation of offshore exploration vessels, icebreakers, and marine structures in Arctic regions. This paper presents a review of existing literature on ice accumulation on marine vessels and offshore structures. Existing reports for field measured icing data are reviewed, which reveals that wave-collision generated sea spray is the main source of marine icing. Fundamental knowledge of different heat fluxes on the icing surface are analyzed and several numerical techniques for modelling of icing predictions on vessels, drilling rigs, and other offshore structures are critically reviewed. Additionally, this paper identifies methods of improving the ice prediction rate for marine vessels and offshore structures.