Eagre/Aegir: high-seas wave-impact modelling

ended

"The overall objective is to create and deliver computational/mathematical modelling tools for solving problems in maritime engineering, based on advanced mathematical/numerical analysis and efficient implementation and testing in a general finite-element simulation environment offered by Firedrake (Imperial College with Leeds). Our key task is to offer training/research such that a so-called ""numerical wavetank"" is established by two ESRs for use in maritime-engineering wave basins, such as operational for consulting at the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN Academy). Our research will provide the ESRs with a skill set that is highly attractive in the job market to employers engaged in high-end consulting. The integrated objectives are to create: (i) a numerical wavetank “ExtremeWaves” (ESR1) concerning modelling of extreme or rogue waves in wave basins integrated with (ii) a numerical wavetank “WaveTurbineImpact” (ERS2) concerning wave-structure interactions, especially wave-impact, on a dynamic wind-turbine mast. The overall objectives build on our recent and current collaborative work (between U. of Leeds and MARIN Academy) on the modelling of water waves and wave-structure interactions with (dis)continuous Galerkin finite-element methods. The above objectives offer challenging demands, not least because the prediction of wave motion around moving or flexible structures is a difficult computational task as a result of the requirement to track (generally using a sophisticated approximation) the a-priori-unknown nonlinear air-water and water-structure interfaces (and their cross-section, the waterline). Conquering these demands is timely because numerical simulations are cheaper than laboratory tests. Moreover, because in realistically motivated challenges mathematical modelling, laboratory testing and cross-validation via computational simulation are inextricably entwined, we view them all as essential components in our so-called ""Research Trinity""."