PhD Studentship: Experimental Measurements of Flow Impacts on Offshore Wind Cables and Marine Ecosystems

Supervisor(s)

• 1) Dr Andrew Want, University of Hull
• 2) Dr Lian Gan, Durham University
• 3) Dr Grigorios Vasilopoulos, University of Hull

Enquiries email: a.want@hull.ac.uk 

The expansion of Floating Offshore Wind is essential if the UK is to meet targets for renewable energy generation. Dynamic subsea power cables (dSPCs), used in floating offshore technologies, are vulnerable to fatigue failure initiated by oscillations and vortex-induced vibrations. The long-term survivability of dSPCs in the highly energetic seas targeted for deployment is a concern to engineers and investors. An additional concern is the presence of marine organisms that settle and grow on submerged structures – a process known as biofouling. Biofouling will increase drag and mass loading on dSPCs but will vary with many factors, including geographic location, hydrodynamic conditions, and water depth.

This PhD will build upon numerical modelling studies to employ physical modelling experiments in state-of-the-art facilities combined with tomographic tracking velocimetry to study flow and in situ interactions with seaweed and epibenthic invertebrates in a variety of wave and tidal conditions. These experiments will be used to validate computational fluid dynamics modelling to determine drag and vortex-induced vibrations on dSPCs associated with biofouling.  

Better understanding of the hydrodynamic consequences on dSPCs from key fouling taxa in a variety of environmental conditions will help to mitigate risks and uncertainties in the offshore wind and wider renewable energy sectors and improve management of biofouling.

Training and development

Project-specific training and development opportunities may include tomographic tracking equipment used in experimental flumes and OrcaFlex and ANSYS/UFLEX software (or similar) for modelling cable behaviour.

Eligibility requirements

If you have received a First-class Honours degree, or a 2:1 Honours degree and a Masters, or a Distinction at Masters level with any undergraduate degree (or the international equivalents) in Biosciences, Engineering, Environmental Science, Physics, or Mathematics and Statistics, we would like to hear from you.

If your first language is not English, or you require Tier 4 student visa to study, you will be required to provide evidence of your English language proficiency level that meets the requirements of the Aura CDT’s academic partners. This course requires academic IELTS 7.0 overall, with no less than 6.0 in each skill.

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