## 4 Conclusions  
Various methods have been employed to study and understand ice-ship interactions, including physical model testing, numerical simulations, and analytical calculations. These approaches help to assess ice loads, analyze the ship's structural response, and optimize  
Figure 13: Enhanced composite damage results: (**a**) SPH ice model, (**b**) rigid body ice model. ship design and operational strategies for safe and efficient navigation in icy waters. Ice-ship interaction is significant in polar regions and other areas with seasonal ice cover, where it is necessary to ensure the safety and reliability of maritime operations, such as shipping, resource exploration, and research expeditions. The superiority of employing the SPH method over modeling ice as a rigid body for numerical simulations lies in its ability to capture the dynamic behavior of ice more accurately. SPH offers a finer-grained representation of the material, allowing for a more realistic simulation of complex phenomena, such as deformation, fragmentation, and fluid-structure interactions. Unlike the simplifications inherent in rigid body modeling, SPH provides a more nuanced and precise depiction of the ice's response to various forces and conditions, making it a more suitable and robust approach for comprehensive numerical modeling. In conclusion, the analysis of low-velocity ice impacts on sandwich structures using the SPH solver in Ansys LS-DYNA provided valuable insights. The study, focused on the force-displacement, force-time, and energy-time curves, demonstrated the model's accuracy in simulating impact dynamics, capturing important phenomena like elastic wave propagation and the role of material damping in energy diffusion. The findings revealed a transition from elastic wave propagation to flexural and shear waves as the impact duration extended. The material properties of ice and composites play a crucial role in determining the impact strength of the sandwich structure. For ice, properties such as density, compressive strength, and fracture toughness significantly influence the impact force and the extent of the damage inflicted on the composite structure. A higher density and compressive strength of ice generally result in higher impact forces, leading to more severe damage. For composite materials, factors such as the fiber type, matrix material, and fiber-matrix bonding strength are critical. The high tensile and compressive strength of the composite fibers, combined with strong fiber-matrix bonding, enhance the overall impact resistance of the composite. Additionally, the energy absorption capability of the composite, determined by its toughness and ductility, plays a vital role in mitigating the damage during impact. Variations in these material properties can lead to significant differences in the impact response and damage mechanisms of the composite sandwich structure. Considering these effects, it is important to select and characterize the material properties accurately to predict the impact behavior and ensure the reliability of the simulation results. This research underscores the significance of understanding ice-structure interactions, particularly in polar regions and areas with seasonal ice cover. The implications extend to enhancing the safety and reliability of maritime operations, including shipping, resource exploration, and scientific expeditions. The study contributes noteworthy guidance for optimizing the sandwich structure design and operational strategies in ice-laden waters within the field of maritime engineering. Future work could involve a detailed parametric study to quantify the sensitivity of impact strength to variations in the material properties of both ice and composite components. Conceptualization, G.M. ; Software, A.P. ; Validation, A.P. ; Formal analysis, A.P. ; Investigation, A.P. ; Data curation, A.P. ; Writing--original draft, A.P. ; Visualization, A.P. ; Supervision, G.M. ; Project administration, G.M. ; Funding acquisition, G.M.