Author(s): Alfred L. Tunik; Peter V. Minnick; James W. St. John; Yung-Kuang Chen; Albert P. Y. Chen
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: No Keywords
Abstract: Strain-gage records acquired during the 1985 winter deployment of the USCGC Polar Sea in the Beaufort Sea have been analyzed and compared with an analytical model. The test data includes the strain history records for different structural elements of the bow hull structure during tens of rams at ice ridges, the velocity records of the ship during ramming ice-breaking, and limited data on the ice environment. The analytical model of head-on ship/ice impact was used to describe the bow force history and the magnitudes of bow force peaks recorded during the trial. About twenty events when the bow forces exceeded 14 MN are analyzed in detail. Their durations, peak values, force locations on the stem, velocity and force histories are presented in a number of diagrams with analytical results plotted. The comparison of experimental data and the analytical predictions proves that the model is capable of predictions of global bow forces, their time histories and impact durations. Factors influencing the accuracy of the acquired experimental data are analyzed.
Year: 1988