Ice jams and ice dams in rivers will cause significant rises of water levels. Under extreme conditions, the ice flooding during winter or early spring may occur. In this paper, by considering the fluid-solid coupling effect caused by the water and the ice cover, the mechanisms of the mechanical breakup of the river ice cover are studied. A formula is obtained for determining whether or not the mechanical breakup process would happen under the hydraulic pressure of the flow. Combined with the hydraulic model under the ice covered flow, a numerical model is built and the interaction between the discharge, the hydraulic pressure under the ice cover and the date for the mechanical breakup of the river ice cover is simulated. The simulated results of the dates for the mechanical breakup of the river ice cover agree very well with the field observations of the breakups of the river ice cover in the Hequ Reach of the Yellow River. Therefore, the numerical model might serve as a good preliminary step in studying the breakup of the river ice-cover, evidencing many important parameters that affect the ice-cover process.
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