Research on the Hydroelastic Response of Ice Floes and Wave Scattering Field

Abstract

Abstract The marginal ice zone (MIZ) is the area between sea ice and open water, the structure of which is mainly determined by wave and ice interactions. Thus mastering the characteristics of MIZ is of great significance to the Arctic routes opening and the natural resources development. In this paper, the hydroelastic response of ice floes in waves is studied, a three-dimensional numerical wave tank is established based on the computational fluid dynamics technology. The finite volume method and finite element method are respectively utilized for the discrete fluid domain and ice domain. A mapping interface at the junction of the fluid and ice floes domains is created to perform data mapping by the shape function interpolation method and the least square method. This work presents a series of numerical simulations to study the fluid–solid interaction of waves and ice floes. Under the given incident wave parameters, the vertical bending deformation of ice floes with different shapes under the excitation of waves, the effect of ice floes' deformation on the wave field are studied, and the effect of wave overwash on the transmitted wave field is emphasized. Results show that the shape of the ice floes significantly affects its elastic deformation and scattered wave field, and the wave overwash phenomenon attenuates the scattering wave.