We want you to fail. Virtually. So you don’t fail in reality. With Dynamic Analysis, you can reduce real-life failure.
With dynamic analysis, you can test your virtual prototypes; pushing your designs to their breaking point before going full scale.
But what is dynamic analysis? And what does it mean in the ocean engineering industry?
In ocean engineering, dynamic analysis uses virtual prototypes of vessels and equipment operating in ocean conditions using simulation software.
These virtual prototypes capture the dynamic response caused by the effect of wind, waves, and ocean currents. Easy to use software tools allow for much quicker design iteration and optimization compared to rules of thumb or rough calculations. Providing a swift and accurate analysis of the vessels and equipment’s response in various environmental conditions and reduces the need for physical prototypes and testing.
When you perform dynamic analysis, you reduce the risks and uncertainty of a project by considering the nonlinear and complex effects of current, wind and waves.
With dynamic analysis, you can apply industry best practices for installation and maintenance processes and explore design alternatives efficiency using an easy to use and flexible unified modelling environment.
At any stage of the project, virtual prototypes can be used to answer questions related to engineering design, planning, training, operations, and safety.
Some common questions our clients look to answer are;
- How will my mooring system respond to wind and waves?
- How will my ship behave in a seaway?
- How can I safely tow this barge?
- How will my towed body respond?
- How will the pipeline be loaded during install?
- How do tidal energy platforms behave in current and waves?
- How much energy can my wave energy converter extract from the waves?
To answer these questions Dynamic Systems Analysis created ProteusDS, a powerful finite-element based analysis tool with intuitive pre and post-processing capabilities.
With ProteusDS, users can create virtual prototypes of marine, offshore, and subsea technologies. For example, DSA recently led an ecoEnergy Innovation Initiative (ecoEII) and launched the ecoSPRAY system to gather data and verify the behaviour of floating tidal energy platforms and their moorings in high-energy turbulent tidal flows.
The NRCan ecoEII project is helping to reduce the cost of in-stream tidal energy through the development of comprehensive site assessment methods and technologies. Lessons learned from this project will help smaller and remote communities deploy smaller scale tidal energy systems and support them with their local equipment and capabilities.
The ecoSPRAY is deployed in Grand Passage between Freeport and Westport, NS, in the Outer Bay of Fundy. The Bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world with current speeds that can reach up to 11 knots. With the help of ProtuesDS and its advanced finite-element capabilities, DSA was able to simulate the floating platform and mooring configuration before deployment.
The ability to view and understand how a system will react is a significant advantage in any ocean industry. It allows you to plan and gain insight into how a system will respond to a wide range of conditions. Determining areas of potential problems will reduce project risk and assures that the design can withstand the extreme ocean conditions.
Dynamic analysis is used for a wide variety of marine industries including;
- offshore oil and gas (moorings, pipelines, floating structures)
- oceanography (towed bodies, buoys, and moorings)
- aquaculture (net cage analysis, moorings)
- naval architecture (seakeeping, towing)
- ocean engineering (boom design, installation analysis, marine operations)
- renewable energy (wave and tidal energy, installation in tidal environments)
- subsea (ROV simulation, AUV/UUV hydrodynamics)
- defence and R&D (launch and recovery, towed arrays, submarines)
Designing for the ocean environment is a constant challenge. Dynamic analysis allows rapid innovation and optimization while reducing risk to fail in the harsh ocean environment.
Interested in DSA’s ocean engineering numerical modelling expertise? A quick email to see if ProteusDS is the right solution for you is a great place to start.
