Experimental study on surface waves around a novel model of ice floe

Abstract Due to the impact of global warming on sea ice cover, experimental research is required to better understand the interactions between sea ice and waves. In this study, an experiment was conducted on waves propagating through a solitary floe model, at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The front (reflected) and rear (transmitted) wave fields and the overwash waves around the floe model with regular incident waves were investigated within a range of incident periods and steepness values. The floe model exhibited loose mooring in the wave flume. This paper proposed a novel material to model an ice floe, which is composed of three layers of elastic plates. By conducting bending tests, the Young's modulus and density of the composite plate were found to be within the range of field-measured ice parameters after scaling. Two materials, namely, a novel material and polypropylene, were used to model the ice floe in this experiment. The results of the experiment conducted on a polypropylene plate are presented in this paper for verification and comparison with the results for the novel material. The results revealed that the proportion of incident waves transmitted through a solitary ice floe decreases with an increase wave steepness for both plates. The lowest of transmission coefficient and highest reflection coefficient are achieved when the incident wavelength is equal to the floe length. With an increases in the steepness of the incident wave, the overwash height continues and the higher-order harmonic of wave energy increases.