Ice tank

Many un-refrigerated ship model basins use ice simulants such as paraffin wax, plaster, and mixtures of foam or plastic beads.

Use of a refrigerated basin containing mostly water allows freezing and melting to be a convenient method of model ice preparation and cleanup.

One important factor in icebreaker model testing is the effect of changing ice strengths and thickness.

By using a sufficiently cold temperature, both water and dopant are frozen in solution together forming an ice sheet.

As the temperature of the ice rises the dopants come out of frozen solution and form liquid brine pockets.

Provided the ice-sheet isn't allowed to refreeze, the strength of the ice continues to decrease approaching an asymptotic value.