Author(s): Jialin Liang; Wenbo Dong; Fang Li; Li Zhou; Pentti Kujala

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Keywords: Ship–ice interaction; Sea ice fraction; Randomness distribution; NDEM

Abstract: When a vessel operates in ice-covered waters, the interaction between the ship hull and the level ice leads to ice fracture. The resulting ice floes are transported by the surrounding flow into the stern wake, where they interact with the propeller and may cause damage such as erosion and blade fracture. Current studies on propeller ice loads primarily focus on head-on collision scenarios between regularly shaped ice blocks and the propeller, which limits the ability to accurately predict hazardous regions on propeller blades. In this study, a non-smooth discrete element method is employed to simulate the bending and crushing failure processes of sea ice during ship–ice interactions. Randomness is introduced into the ice strength model to better represent realistic ice failure behavior. For different ice thicknesses and ship speeds, the fracture radius, circumferential crack patterns, and relative velocity with respect to the ship are extracted for ice floes entering a specified upstream region of the propeller. This approach enables a realistic reproduction of the process by which broken ice is transported into the propeller disk, providing essential support for accurately determining the spatial distribution characteristics of hazardous regions on propeller blades.

DOI:

Year: 2026