ICE-BREAKING HOVERCRAFT Russian patent published in 2003 - IPC

FIELD: ice-breaking jobs. SUBSTANCE: hovercraft 2 runs over ice 1 at resonance speed V_r. Use is made of outer (main) skirt 3. If amplitude of excited flexural gravitational waves is in sufficient for breaking ice, hovercraft 2 is stopped and skirt 5 of smaller area is extended and high-pressure compressor 6 is started; then four additional sections of taper flexible guard 7 are extended and are connected to ship s fan 8, after which flexible guard 3 is pulled to bottom 9 and hovercraft starts running over ice at resonance speed. As a result, amplitude of waves rises to profile 10 and ice is broken behind ship during her advance. EFFECT: enhanced efficiency of breaking ice. 2 dwg