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Abstract
An experimental kelp farming system for exposed ocean conditions was designed, deployed, planted with kelp and instrumented for evaluation of its dynamic response to ocean waves, tides, and currents. The farm featured a novel "lattice" mooring design and anchor lines and cultivation lines (horizontal lines used as kelp growth substrate) made of fiberglass rods. The farm was deployed at a site in Saco Bay, Maine with 13 m (MLLW) water depth. There the farm was exposed to waves with heights up to 5.9 m. Anchor line tension, tide and wave height time series were gathered and processed into response amplitude operators (RAOs) and least squared error linear regression models enabling recognition of meaningful patterns between the forcing factors and the mooring response. Mean mooring line tensions were shown to increase nonlinearly with tide. Anchor line tension response amplitudes were shown to exhibit high sensitivity to both low and high frequency wave forcing. Numerical free-release test simulations suggested natural frequencies in heave of 0.91 Hz, indicating that tension response sensitivities at high frequency could be the result of resonance. Low frequency tension response disproportionate to the low frequency wave forcing could be explained by wave forcing on kelp cultivation arrays modulated by wave group envelopes. Instances of high magnitude, potentially damaging peak tensions, deemed shock loads, were prevalent in most load cases. Anchor line tension dynamics including RAO and shock load magnitudes were shown to be sensitive to mooring stiffness (ratio of tension to resulting elongation) and, in some cases, significant wave amplitude. Patterns of anchor line response indicated that additional mooring elasticity or geometric compliance and use of floatation with less sensitivity to high frequency waves could help avoid the cause of and costly consequences of amplified high frequency loading and high amplitude shock loading. RAOs and regression model results also indicated a subdued response in frequencies associated with ocean swell waves, suggesting desirable performance in waves most dominant in extreme storm events. With the proposed improvements, the farm system design suggests merit as a robust and durable macroalgae biomass production platform.
Department
School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering; Mechanical Engineering
Publication Date
8-1-2024
Journal Title
Ocean Engineering
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
Zachary Moscicki, M. Robinson Swift, Tobias Dewhurst, Michael MacNicoll, David W. Fredriksson, Michael Chambers, Igor Tsukrov, Evaluation of an experimental kelp farm’s structural behavior using regression modelling and response amplitude operators derived from in situ measurements, Ocean Engineering, Volume 305, 2024, 117877, ISSN 029-8018, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2024.117877.
Rights
© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Comments
This is an open access article published by Elsevier BV in Ocean Engineering in 2024, available online: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2024.117877