The response of a floating ice sheet to an accelerating line load

The two-dimensional response of a thin, floating sheet of ice to a line load that accelerates from rest at $t = 0$ to a uniform velocity V for t ≥ T is determined through an integral-transform solution of the linearized equations of motion. If $T = 0$ – i.e. if the load is impulsively started with velocity V – the solution exhibits singularities at V = c₀ , the shallow-water-gravity-wave speed, and V = cₘᵢₙ , the minimum speed for transverse motion of the ice, but these singularities are avoided by the acceleration of the load through the critical speeds.