Observations on the modeling of ice floe interactions with seakeeping software

An investigation of the capabilities of a suite of seakeeping software to model the interactions of ice floes and icebreaking hull forms was initiated, as part of a wider investigation into arctic operations. The sea keeping behavior of a systematic series of ice floes with variations in area extent and thickness, acting alone and in groups is analyzed and presented. This investigation focuses on developing a methodology that can be used in the preliminary and later stages of ship design for ice infested waters. A number of sensitivity studies were performed that explore the limitations and features of the several software packages available to the authors.