OFFSHORE FSI

FLUID-STRUCTURE INTERACTIONS IN OFFSHORE ENGINEERING

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Fluid-structure interaction (FSI) is a multidisciplinary field which involves fluid mechanics, structural mechanics and vibrations, complex techniques for instrumentation and data analysis and numerical methods applied to computational fluid and solid mechanics. Two main FSI topics will be investigated during the course of the fellowship: Wave impact mechanics and vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) on offshore structures. There is a need for data collection regarding deformation of bluff body shapes under wave impacts, for different wave heights, lengths, steepness, and the geometry and immersion of the impacted structures. Surface vessels, floating production systems, and new offshore energy generation devices (wind turbines, wave energy devices,…) are the main applications. On the other hand, there are still major concerns about the VIV of flexible structures: sheared flows, the effect of surface waves and motions on the structural response, array configurations and the effect of developed wakes on downstream structures, are problems that definitely need further study. The same facilities and measurement techniques can be used to study such engineering problems. This fellowship provides the perfect opportunity to master all these techniques and to investigate at the same time, the physics governing that phenomena, with the final objective of being able to understand, characterize, control, suppress or minimize VIV and wave impact loading on marine structures. It is expected that the results of this research will have major impact on design tools and guidelines of marine structures, contributing to increase their safety and reliability. Laboratory experiments are planned for the outgoing phase at Prof. Gharib’s group in the Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories at the CalTech. More experiments in combination with computations are planned for the re-integration phase, at the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering of Universitat Rovira i Virgili.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

An EU-funded research project led to valuable knowledge gains regarding the impact of natural forces on marine structures. Advances in the field of fluid-structure interaction are important for a variety of industrial applications.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship (IOF) 'Fluid-structure interactions in offshore engineering' (Offshore FSI) project studied the impact of water slamming on marine structures. The objective was to produce data regarding the impact of different wave heights, length and steepness, and the geometry and immersion of a structure on its deformation. The focus applied mainly to floating production systems, surface vessels and offshore energy generation devices.

The fellow designed a slingshot impact testing system for simulating water impact on different types of structures. The machine produced good experimental data and offers a new facility for future investigations. Another project objective was to study flow-induced or vortex-induced vibrations of flexible structures. These are extremely common in marine engineering and offshore facilities, yet concerns remain about the effects of surface waves, motions on the structural response and developed wakes on downstream structures. Project efforts resulted in a large amount of data being collected with the help of a free surface tunnel, commonly used for hydrodynamic research.

The Offshore FSI fellow used a three-dimensional imaging technique known as defocusing digital particle image velocimetry to examine how flexible bodies deform over time. He also learned how to apply this technique in other innovative experiments and participated in the measuring of the dynamic response of marine propellers under different operating conditions. This marked a first for the level of precision achieved and the optical measurement of the motion of a propeller's blades in normal operation. Outcomes stand to significantly impact future propeller design and validation.

The project closing involved completing analyses of the work undertaken, publication of papers with results achieved and creation of a new research group. The fellow also applied for new sources of funding so as to implement project outcomes in the design and construction of new facilities and instrumentation for future research. The knowledge acquired has the potential to improve future engineering applications and is relevant to surface vessels, floating production systems and new offshore energy generation devices.