Bionic Adaptive Stretchable Materials for WEC (BASM-WEC)

波浪能转换器（WEC）将海浪的动能和/或势能转换为电能。在不同类型的WECs技术中，没有一种技术具有经济竞争力。现有WEC商业化的主要挑战来自设备的低性能效率和WEC系统在恶劣海洋条件下的脆弱性。受水生动物灵活的身体和鳍的启发，一系列自适应的柔性材料在过去十年的WEC开发中引起了人们的关注。这种材料的具体特点是，它的形状变形，以适应施加到它的负载。有几个好处，使用柔性材料作为WEC结构的一部分。来自斯特拉斯克莱德大学的多学科研究团队与苏格兰国家制造研究所轻型制造中心（NMIS-LMC）合作，将开发一种方法来解决WEC仿生自适应可拉伸材料（BASM-WEC）设计和制造方面的不同挑战。这将得到行业合作伙伴和研究机构的支持，例如Wave-venture，ORE Catapult Wave & Tidal Energy Sector，英国国家海底研究计划，中国国家海洋技术中心和法国SBM Offshore。为了实现主要目标，该项目将开发一个基于先进的计算流体动力学技术的水弹性分析工具，以提供一个强大的分析方法，用于规定所需WEC功能所需的详细材料规格，并允许对并行开发的低阶快速模型进行基准测试，以进行设备优化。材料功能和性能的定制将通过复合材料和混合材料的概念来实现。前者涉及通过二次添加不同的材料（例如功能性填料和纤维）来改性柔性母体材料，而后者涉及开发多层结构，其中每层具有不同的功能。总之，这些技术将通过有针对性的材料选择和改性来微调材料性能，从而指导新材料的开发。柔性材料的复杂物理和效应将在小规模器件水平上通过模拟方法和实验室测试进行交叉检查，提供新的见解。复杂耦合水弹性模型的知识将有利于一般的海上可再生能源。

Wave Energy Converters (WECs) transform the kinetic and/or potential energy of ocean waves into electricity. Among different types of WECs technologies, none of them achieves economic competitiveness. The main challenges of commercialisation of existing WECs arise from the devices' low-performance efficiency and the WEC system's vulnerability under harsh sea conditions. Inspired by aquatic animals' flexible body and fins, a range of adaptive, flexible materials have attracted attention in WEC development in the past decade. The specific characteristic of such material is that its shape deforms adapting to the loading applied to it. There are several benefits using a flexible material as part of WEC structures. A multidisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Strathclyde in collaboration with National Manufacturing Institute Scotland in Lightweight Manufacturing Centre (NMIS-LMC) will develop a methodology to address different challenges regarding design and manufacturing of Bionic Adaptive Stretchable Materials for WEC (BASM-WEC). This will be supported by industry partner and research institution, e.g. Wave-venture, ORE Catapult Wave & Tidal Energy Sector, National Subsea Research Initiative in UK, National Ocean Technology Centre in China, and SBM Offshore based in France. To achieve the main objectives, this project will develop a hydro-elastic analysis tool based on advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics techniques to provide a robust analysis method for prescribing the detailed materials specification required by the desired WEC functionalities and allow the benchmarking of the lower-order rapid models developed in parallel for device optimization. Tailoring of material functions and performance will be achieved through the concept of both composite and hybrid materials. The former involves modifying flexible parent materials with secondary addition of dissimilar materials (e.g. functional fillers and fibres), and the latter involves developing a multi-layered structure with each layer serving different functions. Together, these techniques will guide new material development through fine-tuning material properties by targeted material selection and modification. The complex physics and effect of flexible material will be crosschecked by simulation method and laboratory testing at the small scale device level, providing new insight. Knowledge of complex coupled hydro-elastic models will be beneficial to general offshore renewable energy.