Abstract:

During the navigation of a ship in ice covered regions, the ship hull vibrates owing to various external forces. The hull vibration can affect both the safety of the ship structure and the normal work of its crew. Field measurements of ship hull vibration can be used to analyze accurately the basic characteristics of ship vibration and develop a relationship between vibration and external forces. In this study, vibrations of the scientific investigation ship XUE LONGuelong were measured during the 32nd Chinese  scientific investigation in the Antarctic in 2015—2016. The hull vibrations when navigating in open water were compared with those when in an ice-covered stretch. The measured data were used to analyze the influences of ice thickness, ship speed and ice-breaking mode on the ice-induced hull vibrations. The vibration amplitude was found to increase with both ice thickness and ship speed. Vibrations in the lateral direction dominated in the impact ice-breaking mode, whereas vibrations in the vertical direction dominated in the continuous ice-breaking mode. This study can help both with the measurement of ice-induced vibrations of the ship hull, and with the investigation of ice-induced vibrations in ice field.

Key words: ship structure, ice-induced vibration, field measurement, ice field, Antarctic