CFD analysis on dispersion relationship under a consolidated elastic ice cover

Partially reflected by the ice edge, water waves can travel into sea ice, causing vibration, fracture, and boundary layer development. On the other hand, the sea ice can affect the water waves by decaying their energy and changing the dispersion relationship. To forecast wave climate in the polar seas, it is required to understand the ice-induced energy decay and the dispersion relationship under the ice cover, both of which are often modeled by using potential flow-based methods. The dispersion relationship under the ice can be analyzed by considering a pure elastic behaviour for the sea ice. In the present research, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are used to numerically simulate the air-water flow around an elastic floating ice sheet with nonlinear motions. Using small-scale simulations, it is shown that water waves are lengthened under an elastic solid cover, which is a consequence of the change in the dispersion relationship. Following a recent scaling law, the problem is numerically simulated for different scales. It is demonstrated that the results of different scales are in agreement. All CFD results are used to formulate a dispersion relationship under an elastic ice cover. The formulated dispersion relationship is observed to have an acceptable level of accuracy. This has helped us to take a step forward in using the CFD analysis of the wave motion under a flexible body floating on liquid, indicating that we can target wave motion under a viscoelastic ice cover in the next step.