During escort and convoy operations, icebreakers are often required to maneuver to open up channels or adjust routes due to the prevalence of ice floe conditions in Arctic routes. This study aimed to investigate the global ice load characteristics of the maneuvering captive motions, including constant turning motion, pure yaw motion, and pure sway motion, of the icebreaker Xue Long, using a combination of the discrete element method (DEM) and drag model. First, the method was verified using simulating Araon model tests from the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST). In addition, the maneuvering captive motions of the Xue Long model were simulated at varying turning radii, drift angles, and sway and yaw periods, which are typical but currently poorly studied maneuvering motions. Overall, the results of the study showed that the method is able to reproduce the coupling effect of the ship–ice–water system by considering ship–ice interaction and ice resistance, where the mean deviation and maximum deviation of ice resistance are 9.45% and 13.3%, respectively. The influences of the turning radius, drift angle, and sway and yaw period on the ice resistance and transverse force characteristics were studied and analyzed via ship–ice interactions. The present study provides a prediction tool for the assessment of ship maneuvering performance to assist the hull line development and model testing of icebreakers.

In level ice, the maneuvering motion of icebreakers has a major influence on the global ice loads of the hull. This study researched the influences of the drift angle and turning radius on the ice loads of the icebreaker Xue Long through a partial numerical method based on the linear superposition theory of ice loads. First, with reference to the Araon model tests performed by the Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (KRISO), numerical simulations of Araon’s direct motion were carried out at different speeds, and the average deviation between numerical results and model test results was about 13.8%. Meanwhile, the icebreaking process and modes were analyzed and discussed, compared with a model test and a full-scale ship trial. Next, the maneuvering captive motions of oblique and constant radius were simulated to study the characteristics of ice loads under different drift angles and turning radii. Compared with the maneuvering motion model tests in the ice tank of Tianjin University and the Institute for Ocean Technology of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC/IOT), the numerical results had good agreement with the model test results in terms of the variation trend of ice loads and ice–hull interaction, and the influences of drift angle and turning radius on ice resistance and transverse force, which have a certain reference value for sailing performance research and the design of the hull form of icebreaker ships, are discussed.