Modeling Relevant to Safe Operations of U.S. Navy Vessels in Arctic Conditions: Physical Modeling of Ice Loads
Abstract
The U.S. Navy may need to operate its existing surface ships in Arctic marginal ice zones with ice concentrations up to 40 . To achieve this goal, the Navy must determine safe operational speeds as a function of ice concentration, floe size, and ice strength for its vessels. However, existing ice-impact models and safe-speed guidance for ships have derived from physical modeling and full-scale experience with ice-capable hull forms that have shallow entry angles to promote flexural ice failure preferentially over crushing failure. These models and associated guidance are unlikely to provide accurate estimates of ice forces on the more vertical-sided hulls that are characteristic of U.S. Navy vessels.To address the lack of datasets relevant to the ice impacts on U.S. Navy vessels or like hull forms, this report proposes a series of 1:5 scale tests of ice impacts with a simplified indentor to obtain the data needed to inform and validate numerical models of ice impacts with Navy ships. These large-scale tests will provide important benchmark data to support the development of numerical testbeds where ice-impact forces under various operational scenarios are estimated, thus providing effective safe-speed and design guidance for existing Navy ships in Arctic marginal ice zones.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2016
- Accession Number
- AD1010890
Entities
People
- Arnold J. Song
- James H. Lever
- Sarah W. Bates
Organizations
- Engineer Research and Development Center