IMPROVEMENTS IN ICEBREAKING BY USE OF AIR CUSHION TECHNOLOGY

Full scale observations of icebreaking operations of air cushion vehicles over the period of 1971-1974 are discussed. Limited data from these trials is used to substantiate the hypothesis that an ACV will progress continually through an ice cover, breaking it up as thoroughly as an icebreaker, provided (a) the vehicle cushion pressure, expressed as a head, exceeds the ice cover depth, and (b) the weather of the vehicle exceeds that weight which would create ultimate collapse of the ice cover. Model tests are described which were conducted to assess the capability of an air cushion device deployed at the bow of an icebreaking ship to decrease the resistance encountered by that ship as the combination proceeds through a field of uniformly thick plate ice. The tests showed that the resistance of a model of the C.C.G.S. NORMAN McLEOD ROGERS equipped with an air cushion device was reduced by 22-42 percent (depending on ship speed) below the resistance which would be encountered without the ACV. The implications of the findings of these full scale and model test programs on cold regions ship operations are significant and are discussed.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Presented at the Ice Tech Symposium, Montreal, Canada, April 9-11, 1975.
• Corporate Authors:

  Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers

  601 Pavonia Avenue
  Jersey City, NJ  United States  07306-2907
• Authors:
  • Wade, R G
  • Edwards, R Y
  • Kim, J K
• Publication Date: 1975-4

Media Info

• Pagination: 14 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air cushion vehicles; Bows; Force; Ice; Operations; Resistance (Mechanics)
• Geographic Terms: Arctic Regions
• Old TRIS Terms: Arctic operations; Bow forces; Ice resistance
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Marine Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00095327
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 29 1975 12:00AM