Assessing Corrosion, Wear, Fatigue and VIV on Moorings and Cabling to Reduce Risk in Marine Operations

The cost of cabling and moorings over the entire life of a tidal energy project is a significant proportion of total project expenditures and the potential failure of these components remains a major risk for the emerging tidal energy sector. In addition to the mooring problems that complicated a recent turbine retrieval, floating tidal turbine developers have unanswered questions about the longevity of power cables and moorings. This project addresses gaps in knowledge and data related to corrosion, wear, fatigue, and vortex induced vibrations (VIV) of moorings and cables in turbulent tidal flows. Its results offer practical guidance on mooring and cable analysis in tidal passages through full scale experimentation.

Team

Principal Investigators:   Dean Steinke, Dynamic Systems Analysis Ltd. (DSA); Dalhousie University, Acadia University, Scotrenewables Tidal Power Ltd. and Tocardo Tidal Turbines

Date
October 2017 – August 2018