A Numerical Scheme to Investigate Ice Fracture in Level Ice-Ship Interaction

Abstract

Abstract Ice load is a major threat to the structural safety of polar ships. Accurate prediction of ice loads is inseparable from the good presentation of sea ice fractures by using numerical methods. However, sea ice fracture is a typical discontinuity problem and has been a thorny issue. This paper uses extended finite element method to study the fracture mechanism of level ice when interacts with a rigid plate, which is a simplified structure of ships, to help gain better understanding of the ice load. The numerical simulations are performed based on ABAQUS. The transversely isotropic material model and failure criterion are adopted for the numerical simulation of the level ice. The deformation and stress distribution of the level ice, as well as the location of initial crack and the path of the crack propagating are discussed. The results of the study show that the level ice fracture is closely related to the local tensile failure. The ice failure mode and ice load are closely related to the impact velocity and inclination. As the cracking process of level ice can be well simulated and the stress state can be well presented, extended finite element method is proved to be an effective method to investigate the ice fracture mechanism.