On the Ice Load Distribution on Ship Hulls in Level Ice

Ice loads on the design waterline (DWL) of several vessels were computed with the program Venice to obtain ice load distributions on ship hulls advancing straight ahead in level ice. The purpose is to obtain the spatial distribution of ice loads on the ship hulls in level ice, including the information on how the ice loads vary as functions of ship speed or ice thickness. For one ship hull the computed ice loads were compared with ice load distributions measured in model scale. The computed distributions were also compared with the design line load distributions used in the Finnish-Swedish ice rules and in the Polar Class rules. Some clear differences were found.