Study on the thermal stress characteristics of ice covers in cold-region channels based on smoothed particle hydrodynamics

Long-distance water conveyance channels are vital for optimizing water resource allocation in China, yet ice-cover damage induced by thermal stress during temperature fluctuations poses significant risks to structural stability. To address this challenge, we develop a mesh-free thermal conduction and stress model based on the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method, enabling high-fidelity simulations of ice-cover behavior in rectangular and trapezoidal channels. By analyzing temperature and stress distributions under varying ice thickness, initial surface temperatures, and temperature rise rates, research results demonstrate that ice thickness and initial temperature govern peak thermal stress magnitude while warming rates determine stress duration. Crucially, trapezoidal channels exhibit 9.19% lower average thermal stress compared to rectangular sections, attributable to their geometric stress-dispersing properties. These findings advocate trapezoidal cross sections as a safer design choice for cold-region water conveyance systems and underscore the need for protective measures during slow-warming phases. This work establishes SPH as a novel, grid-independent framework for ice-engineering analyses, overcoming the limitations of traditional mesh-based approaches in simulating complex thermomechanical interactions.