Session: 08-01-02 Hydrodynamic Interaction and Unsteady Effects

Submission Number: 157199

Assessment of Fully Eulerian Phase-Field Framework for Ship Hydrodynamics With Ice Interaction 

With ice cover in the Arctic region shrinking over time, the region has garnered strategic interests for
shipping activities. The development of robust ice-going ships, that can navigate ice fields with minimal
resistance and extreme load on the hull, is an emerging application of multiphase fluid-structure
interaction. The complex and coupled nonlinear dynamics associated with ship-ice contact on a free
surface is challenging to predict and analyze sufficiently via theoretical and experimental methods. High-
fidelity numerical models for ship-ice interaction on a free surface, and the resulting force analysis, are
therefore imperative for the optimization of ice-going ship hull design for Arctic region operations.
Ship-ice interaction is a complex system involving interaction between floating structures and
surrounding free surface, and contact between solids. These interactions happen amid large translational
and rotational motions of the floating structures. When using an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE)
framework [1] to model the contact dynamics of structures on a free surface, maintaining the mesh quality
in the region between the approaching structures poses a major challenge. A multiphase fully-Eulerian
framework is therefore advantageous for this application, as it is able to model the continua of all fluids
and solids involved in a Eulerian frame. A novel multiphase fully-Eulerian framework employing a phase
field formulation to describe the interfaces between the phases has been developed [2]. Rigorous
validation and a complete force analysis framework are now required to apply it to study realistic ship-ice
interaction.
In this paper, we consider a steel structure impacting an ice block underwater as a relevant benchmark
problem to assess the fully-Eulerian phase-field solver for ship-ice interaction modeling. We validate the
resulting force on the steel structure due to submerged impact on ice against experimental results [3]. We
then present a parametric investigation of the interaction force as a result of varying the stiffness of the
structures involved, as modeled by the solver. On the basis of the insights about the solver from these
studies, we finally demonstrate a realistic ship-ice interaction simulation and the resulting dynamics that
emerge out of it.

References
[1] Joshi, Vaibhav, and Rajeev K. Jaiman. A Hybrid Variational Allen-Cahn/ALE Scheme for the Coupled
Analysis of Two-Phase Fluid-Structure Interaction. arXiv:1803.07834, arXiv, 21 Mar. 2018. arXiv.org,
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1803.07834.
[2] Mao, Xiaoyu, and Rajeev Jaiman. “An Interface and Geometry Preserving Phase-Field Method for
Fully Eulerian Fluid-Structure Interaction.” Journal of Computational Physics, vol. 476, Mar. 2023, p.
111903. ScienceDirect, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcp.2022.111903.
[3] Kinnunen, Aki, et al. “Ice-Structure Impact Contact Load Test Setup and Impact Contact Load
Calculation.” 22nd IAHR International Symposium on Ice, 2014,
https://www.iahr.org/library/infor?pid=18311.

Presenting Author: Sabiha Bhuiyan University of British Columbia

Presenting Author Biography: Sabiha Bhuiyan is a Master’s of Applied Science student under Mechanical Engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC), specializing in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Her current research focuses on assessing a fully Eulerian phase-field framework for ship hydrodynamics with ice interaction. With a foundation in physics and astronomy from her undergraduate studies at UBC, Sabiha blends a theoretical background with practical engineering insights, honed through internships and team-based mechanical design club. Going forward, Sabiha is excited about harnessing CFD to tackle challenges across industries, applying innovative solutions and multidisciplinary experiences.