Research on ice resistance and maneuvering performance of ships in broken ice region

This study conducted maneuverability predictions for polar transport ships in both open water and broken ice region. First, the ship’s steering process was simulated, and the speed reduction during turning maneuvering motions in different water environments was compared. Subsequently, CFD-DEM method and the MMG model were adopted to analyze the ship’s turning trajectories in open water and broken ice area, as well as the variations in ice resistance magnitudes with different ice thicknesses and shapes. The results indicate that increased ice thickness reduces the ship’s maneuverability, while cylindrical broken ice yield superior turning performance compared to rectangular ones. It was also found that the turning trajectories of the ship in broken ice region predicted by the MMG model closely align with the numerical results from CFD simulations, demonstrating that the CFD-DEM method and the MMG model can effectively predict ice resistance and ship motion trajectories.