Energy-efficient technologies for breaking ice cover by hovercraft by the resonance method

Abstract

The possibilities of increasing the energy efficiency of the resonant method of ice cover failure carried out by hovercraft are shown. The physical foundations of this method of ice destruction are explained. The resonance method can be used to prolong navigation on inland waterways, breaking ice cover in freezing ports, bays and harbors by opening rivers and reservoirs earlier. As shown by foreign and domestic practice of operating hovercraft in ice conditions, the resonance method can be successfully used to prevent floods by destroying ice jaming that occur during periods of freeze-up and ice drift. Such ice complications, as a rule, occur in shallow water conditions or at extremely shallow depths, where icebreakers cannot operate due to their large draft. The amphibious properties of hovercraft make it possible to successfully carry out icebreaking operations in these conditions. The ways of maneuvering the hovercraft during the destruction of congestion near settlements are shown, where blasting to eliminate them is impossible due to the risk of damage to buildings. It has been established that the efficiency of the resonance method can be increased by using the interference of flexural-gravity waves excited in the ice cover simultaneously by several vessels. The results of the effective use of the group work of hovercraft (vessel movement by the front, wake formation, etc.) are presented, protected by patents of the Russian Federation for inventions and confirmed by laboratory and field tests. Ways to improve the energy efficiency of ice cover failure are shown: the use of ice conditions, the development of additional structures and equipping hovercraft with them.