WAVE-ICE INTERACTION

Three models are examined to study the transmission of ocean waves through an ice-field. In each case the effect of ice thickness, water depth, and the wavelength and angle of incidence of the incoming ocean wave is considered. In Model 1 the ice is assumed to consist of floating non-interacting mass elements of varying thickness and the shallow-water approximation is utilized to simplify the equations. A simple cosine distribution varying in one direction only is assumed. In Model 11 the mass elements, of constant thickness, interact through a bending stiffness force so that the ice acts as a thin elastic plate. The mass elements are connected through a surface tension force in Model 111 so that the ice is simulated by a stretched membrane. In both Models 11 and 111 the full linearized equations are solved. Because of the complexity of the resulting analysis, calculations of the reflection and transmission coefficients, and the pressure under the ice, are made in Model 11 on the basis of the shallow water approximation.