Measuring Ice Loading on Podded Propellers Systems

Currently, work is ongoing to update all of the regulations governing the design of vessels for arctic navigation including the propulsion systems by the International Association of Classification Societies. However, there is a lack of information as to the loads occurring on podded propeller systems operating in ice. Hence, this study aims to close the knowledge gap for this type of propulsion systems. This paper describes the experimental setup designed and built at the National Research Council of Canada Institute for Marine Dynamics (NRC-IMD), for measuring ice loads on such a system. The experimental system is designed to measure the loads on three levels: 1– loads on an individual blade (six components), 2– loads on the propeller shaft (thrust and torque) and, the fore and aft bearings which support the propeller shaft (six components), 3– global forces and moments on the (propeller + pod + strut) system (six components).