Numerical Investigation of Icebreaking Resistance of Ships Navigating in Narrow Ice Channels

Abstract In ice-covered waters, ships may pass through narrow ice channels, where the interactions with the intact ice along the channel boundaries differ from those under level ice conditions. To investigate this problem, numerical simulations of a steel plate impacting on conical sea ice were first conducted to verify a constitutive model developed for ice. Subsequently, based on an explicit dynamic formulation, a coupled ship–ice–water interaction model was developed using an arbitrary Lagrangian– Eulerian algorithm for the fluid–structure interaction. This numerical approach was validated through comparison with the results of ice tank model tests in terms of ice failure patterns and icebreaking resistance, which confirmed the applicability of the proposed model. On this basis, a series of simulations was carried out to examine the icebreaking behaviour of a ship in a narrow channel with varying widths, ship speeds and ice thicknesses. The results showed that the icebreaking resistance in an extremely narrow channel is lower than under level ice conditions, and that the occurrence of lateral cracks is associated with a reduction in resistance. As the channel width was increased, the variation in the resistance became less pronounced. In addition, icebreaking resistance increased with ship speed and ice thickness, and this trend became more evident under confined channel conditions. The findings of this study contribute to the evaluation of ship performance in narrow ice channels and provide reference information for engineering applications in ice-covered waters.