Results of Ice Cutting Experiments with Cutting Tools Representing Propeller Blade Sections

摘要

A research project concerning the propeller-ice impact process was initiated in 1991 by Kvaerner-Masa Yards and included the participation of the Ship Laboratory at Helsinki University of Technology. The final aim of the research is to develop a theoretical model which simulates propeller-ice impact events. Such a model would effectively meet the goal of predicting forces acting on the propeller: both the peaks for propeller blade strength criteria and the histories for propulsion system design considerations. The forces on a propeller during an impact with ice have two components: hydrodynamic and contact. Contributions to the hydrodynamic force component are made by regular open water forces acting on open blades, blockage effects of local ice wakes, and the effects of discontinuous fluid flow around the propeller due to contact. Contact forces are due to the impact between a propeller blade and ice. The two main issues in this component are the nature of the contact and the ice failure processes.