The ice resistance of an ice breaker on the Yellow River is predicted in the context of ice disasters caused by the freezing of the river in winter.

First, a ship-ice-water coupled numerical model is introduced on the basis of the smoothed particle hydrodynamics method (SPH), which includes the numerical process of the constitutive equation, yield criterion and coupling model of ice. The prediction results for the ice resistance of the icebreaker under different conditions are then given.

The results show that the prediction error of ice resistance in level ice cases is less than 17.6% compared with empirical formulas; the ice resistance of the ice breaker increases with the increase in bending strength and ice thickness, and the thickness of the ice layer is the most important factor for the ice load.

The ship-ice-water coupled SPH method proposed in this paper can predict the ice resistance of an ice breaker in the Yellow River channel, providing references for the actual operation of ice breakers on the Yellow River.