Atmospheric and oceanic drag are the main environmental forces controlling sea ice drift.Oceanic drag includes the form drag generated by water pressure gradients on the side of ice floes or on ice ridges,and the skin friction generated by viscous flow on the bottom of ice floes.In this study,we carried out a two-dimensional numerical simulation using FLUENT software to investigate the characteristics of dynamic flow under ice with a smooth undersurface.We studied water drag and flow field distribution below the ice under different conditions of ice draft and flow velocity,and the results agreed well with data from laboratory-based physical modeling tests,demonstrating the ability of the numerical model to reproduce the dynamic interactions between sea ice and the flow field.The degree of distortion in the flow field caused by ice increased as the ice draft increased.Vortexes occurred in the wake field of the floe,and the centers of the vortexes moved away from the ice with increasing ice draft.The simulated drag of water on ice showed a clear linear relationship with the square of the flow velocity.
Atmospheric and oceanic drag are the main environmental forces controlling sea ice drift. Oceanic drag includes the form drag generated by water pressure gradients on the side of ice floes or on ice ridges, and the skin friction generated by viscous flow on the bottom of ice floes. In this study, we carried out a two-dimensional numerical simulation using FLUENT software to investigate the characteristics of dynamic flow under ice with a smooth undersurface. We studied water drag and flow field distribution below the ice under different conditions of ice draft and flow velocity, and the results agreed well with data from laboratory-based physical modeling tests, demonstrating the ability of the numerical model to reproduce the dynamic interactions between sea ice and the flow field. The degree of distortion in the flow field caused by ice increased as the ice draft increased. Vortexes occurred in the wake field of the floe, and the centers of the vortexes moved away from the ice with increasing ice draft. The simulated drag of water on ice showed a clear linear relationship with the square of the flow velocity.