Ice Load Impact Study on the National Science Foundation Research Vessel NATHANIAL B. PALMER.

• Main Authors: St John, James W., Minnick, Peter V.
• Other Authors: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CORP COLUMBIA MD ARCTIC TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1995
• Subjects: Snow; Ice and Permafrost; Marine Engineering; *IMPACT TESTS; *IMPACT STRENGTH; *SHIP HULLS; *SEA ICE; *SHIP BOWS; *ICEBREAKERS; *RESEARCH SHIPS; *ICE BREAKUP; VELOCITY; POLAR REGIONS; THICKNESS; FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS; LOADS(FORCES); DISPLACEMENT; STRAIN(MECHANICS); SHELLS(STRUCTURAL FORMS); STRENGTH(MECHANICS); DRIFT; PRESSURE; STRAIN GAGES; DATA ACQUISITION; FRAMES; DESIGN CRITERIA; PROPULSION SYSTEM COMPONENTS; STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS; ANTARCTIC REGIONS; *IMPACT LOADS; WEDDELL SEA; Antarctic; South Orkney Islands; South Shetland Islands; Weddell; Weddell Sea; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice; Icebreaker; oden; permafrost; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA299846; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA299846

In August of 1992 the National Science Foundation's new research vessel, the Nathaniel B. Palmer, began a 3-week winter deployment to the Weddell Sea, the South Orkney Islands, and the South Shetland Islands in Antarctica. The ship operated in mid-winter ice conditions including first year and second year ice, and the deployment presented a unique opportunity to measure ice impact loads on various regions of the hull. The Nathaniel B. Palmer has a conventional icebreaking bow shape but about half the displacement of the Polar Class icebreakers and the Swedish icebreaker Oden, both previously instrumented. Comparing the ice loads measurements of the Nathaniel B. Palmer with ice load measurements on other ships in similar ice conditions provides an assessment of the effect of vessel displacement with respect to local ice loads. An instrumented bow panel has been used previously to measure local ice loads, however, the Nathaniel B. Palmer was instrumented with three additional panels. These panels were situated on her starboard side, on the transom, and on the bottom so that the relative magnitudes of the impact loads could be compared for similar ice conditions but different hull locations. The August 1992 deployment of the Nathaniel B. Palmer was the first time that this approach had been used in a full-scale ice loads measurement program. This data collection effort was complemented by the instrumentation and measurement of the propulsion machinery performance, measurement of sea ice properties, and measurement of ship performance in open water, and while icebreaking performed for other sponsors.