Calculation of ice clearing resistance using normal vector of hull form and direct calculation of buoyancy force under the hull

Abstract

The ice-resistance estimation technique for icebreaking ships had been studied intensively over recent years to meet the needs of designing Arctic vessels. Before testing in the ice model basin, the estimation of a ship’s ice resistance with high reliability is very important to decide the delivered power necessary for level ice operation. The main idea of previous studies came from several empirical formulas, such as Poznyak and Ionov (1981), Enkvist (1972) and Shimansky (1938) methods, in which ice resistance components such as icebreaking, buoyancy and clearing resistances were represented by the integral equations along the Design Load Water Line (DLWL). The current study proposes a few modified methods not only considering the DLWL shape, but also the hull shape under the DLWL. In the proposed methodology, the DLWL shape for icebreaking resistance and the hull shape under the DLWL for buoyancy and clearing resistances can be directly considered in the calculation. Especially, when calculating clearing resistance, the flow pattern of ice particles under the DLWL of ship is assumed to be in accordance with the ice flow observed during ice model testing. This paper also deals with application examples for a few ship designs and its ice model testing programs at the AARC ice model basin. From the comparison of results of the model test and the estimation, the reliability of this estimation technique has been discussed.