Integrated Numerical and Physical Modelling of Offshore Renewable Energy Systems

漂浮的风能、波浪能和潮汐能系统是可再生能源发电的新前沿。加拿大的机会是巨大的，芬迪湾拥有世界领先的潮汐潜力，近海深水沃茨（包括五大湖）拥有强大的风力资源。世界各地的研究都在致力于将这些技术推向商业化。然而，从运动流中提取能量的行为导致难以预测的复杂运动和结构载荷。 准确地评估这些因素对于最大限度地提高效率、最大限度地降低成本和风险至关重要。无论是数值模拟还是缩放的物理实验，都需要更通用和连接的建模技术，以便更好地解决系统组件与周围环境之间的相互作用，并最终在设计过程中实现更大的直观性。拟议的研究计划的目标是开发这种技术。

Floating wind, wave, and tidal energy systems are a new frontier for renewable electricity generation. The opportunity in Canada is immense, with world-leading tidal potential in the Bay of Fundy and strong wind resources over the deep waters offshore, including the Great Lakes. Research around the world is engaged with developing these technologies toward commercial readiness. However, the action of extracting energy from moving flows makes for complex motions and structural loads that are difficult to predict. Accurately evaluating these is essential to maximizing efficiency and minimizing cost and risk. More versatile and connective modelling techniques are needed – whether numerical simulations or scaled physical experiments – in order to better resolve the interactions between system components and the surrounding environment, and to ultimately enable greater intuition in the design process. The goal of the proposed research program is to develop such techniques.