Numerical and Experimental Investigations of the Effects of Stem Angle on the Resistance of an Icebreaking Cargo Vessel in Pack Ice Conditions

Numerical and Experimental Investigations of the Effects of Stem Angle on the Resistance of an Icebreaking Cargo Vessel in Pack Ice Conditions

The resistance performance of an icebreaking cargo vessel with varied stem angles is investigated numerically and experimentally. Ship-ice interaction loads are numerically calculated based on the fluid structure interaction (FSI) method using the commercial FE package LS-DYNA. Test results obtained from model testing with synthetic ice at the Pusan National University towing tank and with refrigerated ice at the National Research Council's (NRC) ice tank are used to validate and benchmark the numerical simulations. The designed icebreaking cargo vessel with three stem angles ($20^{\circ}$, $25^{\circ}$, and $30^{\circ}$) is used as the target ship for three concentrations (90%, 80%, and 60%) of pack ice conditions. The comparisons between numerical and experimental results are shown and our main conclusions are given.