A CFD investigation of the effects of passing ship on a small size ice floe

Abstract

A RANS (Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes) CFD STAR-CCM+ model is used to investigate the hydrodynamic interactions between a ship and a circular ice floe. The overset mesh technique is employed to simulate the advancing movement of the passing ship. The ship has a hull of similar configuration to the KCS MOERI container ship. The ice floe has a diameter of 30% of the ship’s length and a thickness of 3 m. The paper primarily focuses on the motions of the ice floe and the hydrodynamic forces induced by the ship progressing in different speeds and calm water conditions. A parametric study on the influence of the ice floe surge and sway motions and associated hydrodynamic loads is presented. It is concluded that ship-generated waves can significantly affect the motions of the ice floe and the influence on sway is greater than that on surge. The ship speed is also found to have a distinct impact on ice floe motions.