Author(s): Oleg Makarov; Alexander Bekker
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Sea ice; Numerical modeling; Ice strength test; Ice fracture; SPG; LS-DYNA; Ice strength
Abstract: Numerical modeling of sea ice fracture is a pressing scientific challenge in the field of ice-structure interaction. The heterogeneous structure of sea ice results in significant variation in its strength and a stochastic nature of fracture, which makes it difficult to reproduce this process numerically. The aim of this research is to examine the applicability of the meshless SPG (Smoothed Particle Galerkin) method for modeling sea ice fracture and to perform a parametric analysis using the standard problem of uniaxial compression of a cylindrical ice specimen. A step-by-step study was conducted on the influence of the contact formulation, the discretization pattern, and the interparticle distance, as well as the parameters of the kernel support (KERNEL) and stabilization options (ITB) on the stress-strain state and the fracture pattern of the ice. It is found that structured hexahedral meshing with a distance between particles of 5 mm, combined with the special contact *DEFINE_SPG_TO_SURFACE_COUPLING, provides the correct elastic stress-strain state. For certain combinations of kernel and stabilization parameters, the SPG method can reproduce the brittle fracture pattern with localized cracks; however, a single optimal set of SPG parameters could not be identified. It is shown that further verification of the model requires a transition to schemes with an explicitly defined stress concentrator. The results obtained demonstrate the potential of the SPG method for simulating sea ice fracture, provided that its parameters are carefully calibrated in advance. These results form the basis for the subsequent verification of constitutive models and the development of a comprehensive methodology for the numerical analysis of ice loads.
Year: 2026