Fluid-structure interaction of a large ice sheet in waves

TL;DR

This paper introduces a numerical model using OpenFOAM to simulate the hydroelastic interaction between ocean waves and large ice sheets, capturing phenomena like overwash that previous models could not accurately predict.

Contribution

It develops and validates a coupled fluid-structure interaction model that improves prediction of wave-ice interactions, including overwash phenomena.

Findings

Model accurately predicts overwash in ice sheets.

The approach captures phenomena not included in previous theoretical models.

Potential applications in studying wave-ice interactions and marine structure impacts.

Abstract

With global warming, the ice-covered areas in the Arctic are being transformed into open water. This provides increased impetus for extensive maritime activities and attracts research interests in sea ice modelling. In the polar region, ice sheets can be several kilometres long and subjected to the effects of ocean waves. As its thickness to length ratio is very small, the wave response of such a large ice sheet, known as its hydroelastic response, is dominated by an elastic deformation rather than rigid body motions. In the past 25 years, sea ice hydroelasticity has been widely studied by theoretical models; however, recent experiments indicate that the ideal assumptions used for these theoretical models can cause considerable inaccuracies. This work proposes a numerical approach based on OpenFOAM to simulate the hydroelastic wave-ice interaction, with the Navier-Stokes equations describing the fluid domain, the St. Venant Kirchhoff solid model governing the ice deformation and a coupling scheme to achieve the fluid-structure interaction. Following validation against experiments, the proposed model has been shown capable of capturing phenomena that have not been included in current theoretical models. In particular, the developed model shows the capability to predict overwash, which is a ubiquitous polar phenomenon reported to be a key gap. The present model has the potential to be used to study wave-ice behaviours and the coupled wave-ice effect on marine structures.