Structural dynamics

On August 5, 2010 the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has designated the Center for Ocean Energy Technology (COET) at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) as a national center for ocean energy research and development. Their focus is the research and development of open-ocean current systems and associated infrastructure needed to development and testing prototypes. The generation of power is achieved by using a specialized electric generator with a rotor called a turbine. As with all machines, the turbines will need maintenance and replacement as they near the end of their lifecycle. This prognostic health monitoring (PHM) requires data to be collected, stored, and analyzed in order to maximize the lifespan, reduce downtime and predict when failure is eminent. This thesis explores the use of a data gateway which will separate high level software with low level hardware including sensors and actuators. The gateway will v standardize and store the data collected from various sensors with different speeds, formats, and interfaces allowing an easy and uniform transition to a database system for analysis.

On August 5, 2010 the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has designated the Center for Ocean Energy Technology (COET) at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) as a national center for ocean energy research and development of prototypes for open-ocean power generation. Maintenance on ocean-based machinery can be very costly. To avoid unnecessary maintenance it is necessary to monitor the condition of each machine in order to predict problems. This kind of prognostic health monitoring (PHM) requires a condition-based maintenance (CBM) system that supports diagnostic and prognostic analysis of large amounts of data. Research in this field led to the creation of ISO13374 and the development of a standard open-architecture for machine condition monitoring. This thesis explores an implementation of such a system for ocean-based machinery using this framework and current open-standard technologies.

The study presents a reliability-based fatigue life prediction model for the ocean current turbine rotor blades. The numerically simulated bending moment ranges based on the measured current velocities off the Southeast coast line of Florida over a one month period are used to reflect the short-term distribution of the bending moment ranges for an idealized marine current turbine rotor blade. The 2-parameter Weibull distribution is used to fit the short-term distribution and then used to obtain the long-term distribution over the design life. The long-term distribution is then used to determine the number of cycles for any given bending moment range. The published laboratory test data in the form of an ε-N curve is used in conjunction with the long-term distribution of the bending moment ranges in the prediction of the fatigue failure of the rotor blade using Miner's rule. The first-order reliability method is used in order to determine the reliability index for a given section modulus over a given design life. The results of reliability analysis are then used to calibrate the partial safety factors for load and resistance.

Marine current turbines are submerged structures and subjected to loading conditions from both the currents and wave effects. The associated phenomena posed significant challenge to the analyses of the loading response of the rotor blades and practical limitations in terms of device location and operational envelopes. The effect of waves on marine current turbines can contribute to the change of flow field and pressure field around the rotor and hence changes the fluid forces on the rotor. However, the effect of the waves on the rotor depends on the magnitude and direction of flow velocity that is induced by the waves. An analysis is presented for predicting the torque, thrust, and bending moments resulting from the wave-current interactions at the root of rotor blades in a horizontal axis marine current turbine using the blade element-momentum (BEM) theory combined with linear wave theory. Parametric studies are carried out to better understand the influence of important parameters , which include wave height, wave frequency, and tip-speed ratio on the performance of the rotor. The periodic loading on the blade due to the steady spatial variation of current speeds over the rotor swept area is determined by a limited number of parameters, including Reynolds number, lift and drag coefficients, thrust and torque coefficients, and power coefficient. The results established that the BEM theory combined with linear wave theory can be used to analyze the wavecurrent interactions in full-scale marine current turbine. The power and thrust coefficients can be analyzed effectively using the numerical BEM theory in conjunction with corrections to the tip loss coefficient and 3D effects.

In response to Florida's growing energy needs and drive to develop renewable power, Florida Atlantic Universitys Center for Ocean Energy Technology (COET) plans to moor a 20 kW test turbine in the Florida Current. No permanent mooring systems for deepwater hydrokinetic turbines have been constructed and deployed, therefore little if anything is known about the performance of these moorings. To investigate this proposed mooring system, a numeric model is developed and then used to predict the static and dynamic behavior of the mooring system and attachments. The model has been created in OrcaFlex and includes two surface buoys and an operating turbine. Anchor chain at the end of the mooring line develops a catenary, providing compliance. Wind, wave, and current models are used to represent the environmental conditions the system is expected to experience and model the dynamic effects on the system. The model is then used to analyze various components of the system. The results identify that a mooring attachment point 1.25 m forward of the center of gravity on the mooring buoy is ideal, and that the OCDP and turbine tether lengths should be no shorter than 25 and 44 m, respectively. Analysis performed for the full system identify that the addition of the floats decreases the tension at the MTB attachment location by 26.5 to 29.5% for minimum current, and 0.10 to 0.31% for maximum current conditions.

The success of harnessing energy from ocean current will require a reliable structural design of turbine blade that is used for energy extraction. In this study we are particularly focusing on the fatigue life of a 3m length ocean current turbine blade. The blade consists of sandwich construction having polymeric foam as core, and carbon/epoxy as face sheet. Repetitive loads (Fatigue) on the blade have been formulated from the randomness of the ocean current associated with turbulence and also from velocity shear. These varying forces will cause a cyclic variation of bending and shear stresses subjecting to the blade to fatigue. Rainflow Counting algorithm has been used to count the number of cycles within a specific mean and amplitude that will act on the blade from random loading data. Finite Element code ANSYS has been used to develop an S-N diagram with a frequency of 1 Hz and loading ratio 0.1 Number of specific load cycles from Rainflow Counting in conjunction with S-N diagram from ANSYS has been utilized to calculate fatigue damage up to 30 years by Palmgren-Miner's linear hypothesis.

The design of bridge structures to resist explosive loads has become more of a concern to the engineering community. This thesis proposes a method to evaluate the effects of conventional blast loads on a two span continuous composite steel girder bridge system. The bridge design is based on AASHTO LRFD method. Resistance capacities of bridge deck and composite steel girder are calculated according to AASHTO specifications. Equivalent blast pressures on the bridge components are obtained. Response and performance of concrete deck, steel girders, and supporting piers are evaluated under typical blast loads. The blast induced force in the bridge components are computed in the static analyses for varying amounts of TNT. The blast effects in the supporting pier are determined using both static and dynamic analyses. Further research needs to be done in the dynamic analysis of the bridge system subjected to blast loads.

A composite 3 meter ocean current turbine blade has been designed and analyzed using Blade Element Theory (BET) and commercial Finite Element Modeling (FEM) code, ANSYS. It has been observed that using the numerical BET tool created, power production up to 141 kW is possible from a 3 bladed rotor in an ocean current of 2.5 m/s with the proposed blade design. The blade is of sandwich construction with carbon fiber skin and high density foam core. It also contains two webs made of S2-glass for added shear rigidity. Four design cases were analyzed, involving differences in hydrodynamic shape, material properties, and internal structure. Results from the linear static structural analysis revealed that the best design provides adequate stiffness and strength to produce the proposed power without any structural failure. An Eigenvalue Buckling analysis confirmed that the blade would not fail from buckling prior to overstressed laminate failure if the loading was to exceed the Safety Factor.

This thesis presents the analytically predicted position, motion, attitude, power output and forces on Florida Atlantic University's (FAU) first generation ocean current turbine for a wide range of operating conditions. These values are calculated using a 7- DOF dynamics simulation of the turbine and the cable that attaches it to the mooring system. The numerical simulation modifications and upgrades completed in this work include developing a wave model including the effects of waves into the simulation, upgrading the rotor model to specify the number of blades and upgrading the cable model to specify the number of cable elements. This enhanced simulation is used to quantify the turbine's performance in a wide range of currents, wave fields and when stopping and starting the rotor. For a uniform steady current this simulation predicts that when the rotor is fixed in 1.5 m/s current the drag on the turbine is 3.0 kN, the torque on the rotor is 384 N-m, the turbine roll and pitch are 2.4º and -1.2º . When the rotor is allowed to spin up to the rotational velocity where the turbine produces maximum power, the turbine drag increases to 7.3 kN, the torque increases to 1482 N-m, the shaft power is 5.8 kW, the turbine roll increases to 9º and the turbine pitch stays constant. Subsequently, a sensitivity analysis is done to evaluate changes in turbine performance caused by changes in turbine design and operation. This analysis show, among other things, that a non-axial flow on the turbine of up to 10º has a minimal effect on net power output and that the vertical stable position of the turbine varies linearly with the weight/buoyancy of the turbine with a maximum variation of 1.77 m for each increase or decrease of 1 kg at a current speed of 0.5 m/s.