Physical Model Experiments to Assess the Hydrodynamic Interaction Between Floating Glacial Ice Masses and a Transiting Tanker

An array of nine fabricated models comprised of three different shapes, with three model sizes for each shape, has been utilized in tow tank tests to investigate the hydrodynamic interaction between glacial ice masses and a transiting tanker. A generic model tanker was towed past free-floating ice mass models at various speeds and proximities. The ice masses were either spherical, pyramidal or cylindrical in shape. The influence of waves of various periods and wave heights was also investigated. Sway and surge of the ice masses in response to the tanker passage were measured as the primary indicators of the hydrodynamic interactions. Notable among the many observed behaviors was that waves tended to enhance the degree of sway. Also, in the scenarios tested the magnitude of surge speed and sway speed were <10% of the tanker speed, and would therefore not significantly reduce impact speed during collisions. The program results are intended for use primarily in the validation of IOT’s numerical simulations of bergy bit/ship collisions, but can also serve as a validation database for simulation studies by other researchers.