What floating arrays hinge on

Offshore engineering practices, such as floating cities and renewable energy farms, connect buoyant modules with hinges to build arrays. While these hinges reduce the risk of collisions and drifting, they introduce complex mechanical coupling effects and motion responses to the arrays.

Zhang et al. used simulation to comprehensively investigate motion characteristics throughout hinged arrays.

“Our findings shed light on the complex interactions and mechanical coupling effects within the arrays, which were previously not well understood,” said author Junfeng Du.

The authors found the hinges suppress the heave motion of an array but create a strong pitch motion that must be considered during design. External constraints, such as mooring lines, must also be considered due to their strong effect on motion in the simulations.

This work showed that motion trends of shorter hinged arrays are conserved as array size increases, which means a shorter array can be used as a simplified model to study motion in larger arrays, such as those required for floating artificial cities.

“By understanding the complex mechanical coupling effects introduced by hinge connectors, engineers and researchers can make informed decisions in the design process, implement appropriate safety measures, and optimize the performance of hinged arrays in various applications,” Du said.

Next, the authors will study how additional parameters, such as fluid viscosity and module arrangement, affect the motion of hinged arrays. They also plan to apply their findings to offshore engineering and renewable energy applications. For example, in this work they found that modules at the array ends exhibit the strongest motion responses, and thus could be used to generate electricity with a wave energy converter.

Source: “Motion characteristics of large arrays of modularized floating bodies with hinge connections,” by Deqing Zhang, Junfeng Du, Zhiming Yuan, Shuangrui Yu, and Huajun Li, Physics of Fluids (2023). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/1063/5.0153317 .