Lab scale modelling of collision generated spray in the context of marine icing

Abstract

Marine icing is a form of ice accretion that affects vessels in harsh environmental conditions. This type of ice accretion is primarily due to collision generated spray icing. Consequences of marine icing range in severity from capsizing of small fishing vessels to hazardous working conditions and reduced operational efficiency in larger vessels and rigs. The understanding of icing effects are mainly limited to atmospheric icing in the aircraft industry, while there is a limited amount of new literature and industrial knowledge regarding marine spray icing. The objective of this project was to understand the characteristics of collision generated spray at the lab scale. In this effort, experiments were conducted with three fabricated models of varying geometries in a tow tank that were subjected to oncoming waves. Wave probes measured the wave characteristics while pressure sensors and a high speed camera recorded impact pressure and spray generation imaging, respectively. The impact pressure and imaging data files largely serve as validation data for follow on research. Trends were observed and plotted that correlate increasing impact pressures with increasing wave steepness values. A qualitative summary of the spray characteristics captured through imaging found that higher instances of notable spray events occurred as wave impact pressure increased.