The research program deals with thedevelopment of offshore islands (as fixed or floating structures) for oceanspace utilization, in which wave (marine) energy is exploited for energysupplying and to reduce CO2 emissions.
The research activities will bedeveloped by considering:
- analysis and development of innovativemodels, analytical and/or numerical, of marine structures (i.e. fixedbreakwater, offshore floating structures), with OWC devices;
- study of the hydrodynamics problems forthe modelling of large floatingstructures, including structures in which OWC devices are embodied;
- risk analysis of marine structures insevere meteocean conditions, by taking into account extreme waves during seastorms; this analysis will include the study of the action of extreme waves(freak waves) on the OWC wave energy converters;
- data processing from experimentalactivities with physical modeling of Oscillating Water Column systems, on fixedand floating structures. These data are available at NOEL laboratory.
Both Monte Carlo approaches andexperimental data will be used for the analysis of the dynamic response.
Thehydrodynamic analysis will be conducted in the context of the potential theoryfor an irrotational flow with a free surface (to determine excitation forces,added mass and radiated damping).
Fluid mechanics
Wave mechanics
Random process theory
Dynamics of structures
Numerical analysis
Algorithm coding (Fortran, Matlab,Python, etc.)
The research team operates at theNOEL (Natural Ocean Engineering Laboratory): a laboratory established withinUNIRC. It is composed by a highly specialized team working in the field ofocean engineering and marine energy. Actually, the team involves 1 Professor, 2Ass. Professors, 3 Researchers, 2 Post-docs and 2 PhD Students. The team has a30-year experience in conducting field experiments on small-scale models ofmarine structures and of wave energy harvesters at the NOEL natural basin. Thislaboratory is a unique environment where experimentalists can pursue tests withthe support, acquisition data center and specialized personnel (seewww.noel.unirc.it).