Viscoelastic response of a floating ice plate to a steadily moving load

Viscoelastic theory is used to describe the response of a floating ice sheet to a moving vehicle. We adopt a two-parameter memory function to describe the behaviour of the ice, subjected to a steadily moving line or point load. The viscoelastic dissipation produces an asymmetric quasi-static response at subcritical speed, renders a finite response at the critical speed, and damps the shorter leading waves rather more severely than the longer trailing waves at supercritical speed. We extend earlier asymptotic theory to consider the anisotropic damping of the flexural waves. There is enhanced agreement between theory and experiment.