Open AccessWave response of an ice floe of arbitrary geometry
Author(s) -
Meylan Michael H.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: oceans
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2000jc000713
Subject(s) - sea ice , geology , scattering , mechanics , physics , displacement (psychology) , geophysics , geodesy , geometry , optics , mathematics , psychology , oceanography , psychotherapist
A fully three‐dimensional model for the motion and bending of a solitary ice floe due to wave forcing is presented. This allows the scattering and wave‐ induced force for a realistic ice floe to be calculated. These are required to model wave scattering and wave‐induced ice drift in the marginal ice zone. The ice floe is modeled as a thin plate, and its motion is expanded in the thin plate modes of vibration. The modes are substituted into the integral equation for the water. This gives a linear system of equations for the coefficients used to expand the ice floe motion. Solutions are presented for the ice floe displacement, the scattered energy, and the time‐averaged force for a range of ice floe geometries and wave periods. It is found that ice floe stiffness is the most important factor in determining ice floe motion, scattering, and force. However, above a critical value of stiffness the floe geometry also influences the scattering and force.