Field measurements on the behavior of brash ice

Abstract

The behavior and properties of brash ice are important issues for the design of ice-going vessels. Heavy brash ice conditions may cause vessels to be dependent on ice-breaker assistance and time delays in the shipping schedule. Brash ice properties are not well studied and full-scale field data are missing in order to verify numerical models on brash ice and broken sea ice in general. The recent study describes new field equipment for testing brash ice and its functionality is tested on brash ice produced by the Swedish Ice-breaker Oden during ice management operations in the Barents Sea. The equipment consists of a big collector, connected to a crane, which is lowered below the brash ice cover. The brash ice mass above is pulled up by the crane and the force required for pulling is measured. A series of 18 field tests were performed and presented. Strengths and weaknesses of the method were evaluated. Ice blocks sizes were measured. The peak load during pull-up was often at least twice the weight of the lifted ice blocks when the blocks were interlocked. For free floating blocks, the peak load conformed to the weight of the blocks.