Ice Tank Tests on Rafting of a Broken Ice Field

摘要

Rafting of ice floes was studied in a series of ice tank experiments. The aim ofthe test program as to identify the important variables affecting the rafting process. During the experiments, a population of model ice floes were pushed with an instrumented pusher plate. Ice thickness, floe size, floe shape, and pusher plate velocity were varied in the test series. When pushed, the floes moved in aggregates, and the contact lines between the aggregates were the locations where the rafting occurred. Cross sections of the rubble formations were examined after the tests. The inclination angles of the ice floes angles also measured from the cross-sections of the piles. Analysis of the floe angles also suggested that during compression, the floes in a rubble field tent to turn into an increasingly upright position.