Objectives  With deepening research on the geographical and climatic environment of the Arctic, the political and military value of submarines in the region has been well recognized. Although the thick ice in the Arctic provides natural protection for submarines, it also poses a risk to submarines during the ice surfacing process. A method for accurately predicting the ice surfacing process and transient ice loads can be the most important issue in the design of submarine shells and choice of ice thickness.

  Methods  In this paper, a numerical method for dealing with the submarine and ice contact problem is developed. First, the peridynamic theory on the capture of material fractures is briefly introduced and the feasibility of peridynamics in modeling the ice failure problem is discussed. To reflect the physical reality of submarine-ice interaction, a contact detection algorithm is established to prevent the interpenetration of the submarine surface and ice material particles, and a method for calculating the contact load is introduced. Finally, based on peridynamics and the contact detection algorithm, a numerical program for predicting submarine-ice interaction is compiled. Using the DARPA SUBOFF submarine model, the ice surfacing process of a submarine is simulated.

  Results  The results show that this method can vividly capture the ice failure process, which corresponds to observations of the ice surfacing process of American nuclear submarines, and the dynamic ice load can be calculated over time.

  Conclusions  This method provides new concepts in the study of submarine-ice interaction, and its results support the optimal shell structure design of arctic submarines.