Free Decay Tests Research Articles

Automated processing of free roll decay experimental data

This work presents an efficient numerical and modular approach to assessing viscous roll damping coefficients from free decay tests. In order to reduce the time consumed during analysis, numerical pre-processing of the data without visual inspection is suggested. The method involves breaking down multiple decay motions recorded in a single time series, numerically determining the beginning and the end of valid decay motion, eliminating the outlying data from the experimental analysis and obtaining the linear and non-linear roll damping coefficients. None of the pre-processing steps depend on each other and they can be used separately in a modular structure. The process is exemplified using decay test samples of a fishing vessel. To use these analysis results in numerical simulations that extend beyond identical conditions with the experiments, a 3D surface approach is examined. The surface also reveals the effect of speed on the coefficients obtained from the sample set.

Motion responses of a moored barge in shallow water

Motion characteristics of a floating structure in shallow water are of great concern in ocean engineering. Shallow water effects will significantly affect the hydrodynamic performance of a floating structure. In this study, both numerical and experimental studies have been conducted to investigate the hydrodynamic performance of a barge in shallow water. Numerical simulations are conducted in both frequency and time domains based on 3D potential theory. Second-order wave forces have been incorporated in the numerical model through the calculation of fully quadratic transfer function. The numerical results are validated through a series of physical model tests, including free decay test and irregular wave tests. Responses of the floating structure in different water depths and sea states are studied to clarify the safe conditions for a float-over installation in shallow water. Based on the numerical and experimental results, some conclusions have been drawn. Furthermore, a critical depth for shallow water effects is clarified.

Calibration and validation of a spar-type floating offshore wind turbine model using the FAST dynamic simulation tool

High-quality computer simulations are required when designing floating wind turbines because of the complex dynamic responses that are inherent with a high number of degrees of freedom and variable metocean conditions. In 2007, the FAST wind turbine simulation tool, developed and maintained by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), was expanded to include capabilities that are suitable for modeling floating offshore wind turbines. In an effort to validate FAST and other offshore wind energy modeling tools, DOE funded the DeepCwind project that tested three prototype floating wind turbines at 1/50th scale in a wave basin, including a semisubmersible, a tension-leg platform, and a spar buoy. This paper describes the use of the results of the spar wave basin tests to calibrate and validate the FAST offshore floating simulation tool, and presents some initial results of simulated dynamic responses of the spar to several combinations of wind and sea states. Wave basin tests with the spar attached to a scale model of the NREL 5-megawatt reference wind turbine were performed at the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands under the DeepCwind project. This project included free-decay tests, tests with steady or turbulent wind and still water (both periodic and irregular waves with no wind), and combined wind/wave tests. The resulting data from the 1/50th model was scaled using Froude scaling to full size and used to calibrate and validate a full-size simulated model in FAST. Results of the model calibration and validation include successes, subtleties, and limitations of both wave basin testing and FAST modeling capabilities.

Amplitude and frequency independent cable damping of Sutong Bridge and Russky Bridge by magnetorheological dampers

SUMMARY Two control approaches for magnetorheological (MR) dampers on cables based on collocated control without state estimation are formulated, which generate amplitude and frequency independent cable damping: cycle energy control and controlled viscous damping (CVD). The force tracking is solved by the inverted Bingham model whose parameters are fitted as function of current and frequency. Cycle energy control and CVD are experimentally validated by hybrid simulations and free decay tests on stay cables of the Sutong Bridge, China, and the Eiland Bridge, the Netherlands. The implementation of CVD on the Russky Bridge, Russia, includes two novelties: the force tracking also takes the actual MR damper temperature into account to ensure precise force tracking for MR damper temperatures −40 to +60 °C and the decentralised real-time control units with pulse width current modulation are installed next to each MR damper to avoid long direct current (DC) power lines with associated losses and thereby minimise power consumption. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Nonlinear simulation of a spar buoy floating wind turbine under extreme ocean conditions

A nonlinear computational model, based on solving the Navier-Stokes equation, is used to study the motion of a 5 MW spar buoy floating wind turbine in moderate and extreme sea states with irregular waves. The main advantages of using the current model are that there is no limitation on the platform motion, the hydrodynamic loads do not rely on experimental data, and nonlinear hydrodynamic loads can be predicted. The current work extends a previously developed Navier-Stokes model for regular periodic waves on a tension leg platform floating wind turbine. Free decay tests are performed, and pitch, heave, and surge natural frequencies are determined. The responses of the spar buoy to operating conditions with significant wave height of 8 m and mean period of 10 s, and an extreme sea states including waves over 17 m height are studied. For the extreme sea state, a nonlinear model is required, since the platform response amplitudes are not small with respect to the spar buoy diameter. Effects not included in linear models, such as platform pitch angles higher than 10°, complete submergence of the platform tank and tether slacking are captured. Finally, a design study on spar buoy aspect ratio is performed for one sea state and it is shown that higher aspect ratio spars generally lead to lower mean pitch and surge responses as expected, but also may lead to a nonlinear trend in the standard deviations in pitch and heave, probably due to the increase in wind and wave moments on the spar.

Experimental Comparison of Three Floating Wind Turbine Concepts

Beyond many of Earth's coasts exists a vast deepwater wind resource that can be tapped to provide substantial amounts of clean, renewable energy. However, much of this resource resides in waters deeper than 60 m where current fixed bottom wind turbine technology is no longer economically viable. As a result, many are looking to floating wind turbines as a means of harnessing this deepwater offshore wind resource. The preferred floating platform technology for this application, however, is currently up for debate. To begin the process of assessing the unique behavior of various platform concepts for floating wind turbines, 1/50th scale model tests in a wind/wave basin were performed at the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN) of three floating wind turbine concepts. The Froude scaled tests simulated the response of the 126 m rotor diameter National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) 5 MW, horizontal axis Reference Wind Turbine attached via a flexible tower in turn to three distinct platforms, these being a tension leg-platform, a spar-buoy, and a semisubmersible. A large number of tests were performed ranging from simple free-decay tests to complex operating conditions with irregular sea states and dynamic winds. The high-quality wind environments, unique to these tests, were realized in the offshore basin via a novel wind machine, which exhibited low swirl and turbulence intensity in the flow field. Recorded data from the floating wind turbine models include rotor torque and position, tower top and base forces and moments, mooring line tensions, six-axis platform motions, and accelerations at key locations on the nacelle, tower, and platform. A comprehensive overview of the test program, including basic system identification results, is covered in previously published works. In this paper, the results of a comprehensive data analysis are presented, which illuminate the unique coupled system behavior of the three floating wind turbines subjected to combined wind and wave environments. The relative performance of each of the three systems is discussed with an emphasis placed on global motions, flexible tower dynamics, and mooring system response. The results demonstrate the unique advantages and disadvantages of each floating wind turbine platform.

감쇠판에 의한 원기둥의 상하운동 저감 모형시험

Motion reduction of an offshore structure at resonant frequency is essential for avoiding critical damage to the topside and mooring system. A damping plate has a distinct advantage in reducing the motion of a floating structure by increasing the added mass and the damping coefficient. In this study, the heave motion responses of a circular cylinder with an impermeable and a permeable damping plate attached at the bottom of the cylinder were investigated thru a model test. The viscous damping coefficients for various combinations of porosity were obtained from a free-decay test by determining the ratio between any pair of successive amplitudes. Maximum energy dissipation occurred at a porous plate with a porosity P = 0.1008. Experimental results for regular and irregular waves were compared with an analytical solution by Cho (2011). The measured heave RAO and spectrum reasonably followed the trends of the predicted values. A significant motion reduction at resonant frequency was pronounced and the heaving-motion energy calculated by the integration of the area under the heave motion spectrum was reduced by more than 75% by the damping plate. However, additional energy dissi pation by eddies of strong vorticity and flow separation inside a porous damping plate was not found in the present experiments.

Characterisation of the acute phase response in prepartum and postpartum Holstein dairy cows

A braceless concrete substructure for floating offshore wind turbines was designed and analysed in 2014 by Dr.tech. Olav Olsen AS,IFE and Acciona within an industrial project co-financed by the Research Council in Norway. A simplified model of the structure in scale 1:40 was tested in 2014 at the Hydrodynamic and Ocean Engineering tank at Ecole Centrale de Nantes (ECN) by IFE and CENER.A number of tests including regular and irregular waves for free and fixed hull, and decay tests were carried out. The present paper shows a comparison between experiments and CFD simulation for free decay tests in heave, and surge motion and test in regular waves for fixed and free hull.The commercial CFD solver STARCCM+ was used for the CFD simulations. A numerical wave tank was modelled with using a trimmed mesh with surface refinement. The surface refinement was varied depending on the wave length and height in order to ensure at least 20 cells per wave height and 100 cells per wave length. The time step was chosen in order to ensure a Courant number around 0.5. A volume of fluid method was used and the k-ω turbulence model was used to solve the turbulent part of the averaged Navier-Stokes equations. For the free hull cases the overset meshing technique with the DFBI model included in StarCCM+ was used. The mooring lines were simplified and equivalent elastic springs were used instead of the catenary system used in the experiments. The results show a good comparison between the experiments and the CFD simulations for both regular waves and decay tests.

Experimental and numerical study of the effects of heave plate on the motion of a new deep draft multi-spar platform

The heave motion of a floating structure is critical, as a favorable heave characteristic permits dry tree systems, amongst other benefits. The heave response can be suppressed by installing heave plates. However, the associated hydrodynamic effects, which include viscous damping and added mass, are very complicated. Moreover, there are limited experimental investigations to understand the heave plate effects on actual platform designs. This paper aims to study the abovementioned issue based on a novel deep draft multi-spar (DDMS) platform, for four different configurations (with/without upper and lower heave plates). A set of experiments (free decay, regular and irregular wave tests) are conducted, and compared with time domain and linearized frequency domain analyses. Amongst other things, the investigations and discussions include the added mass and damping coefficients for the platform and heave plates, comparison of experimental and numerical results, and the influence of the heave plates on the surge, heave and pitch motions.

Preliminary tests of a damaged ship for CFD validation

One of the most critical issues in naval architecture these days is the operational safety. Among many factors to be considered for higher safety level requirements, the hull stability in intact and damaged conditions is the first to ensure for both commercial and military vessels. Unlike the intact stability cases, the assessment of the damaged ship stability is very complicated physical phenomena. Therefore it is widely acknowledged that computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods are one of most feasible approaches. In order to develop better CFD methods for damaged ship stability assessment, it is essential to perform well-designed model tests and to build a database for CFD validation. In the present study, free roll decay tests in calm water with both intact and damaged ships were performed and six degree-of-freedom (6DOF) motion responses of intact ship in regular waves were measured. Through the free roll decay tests, the effects of the flooding water on the roll decay motion of a ship were investigated. Through the model tests in regular waves, the database that provides 6DOF motion responses of intact ship was established.

Preliminary tests of a damaged ship for CFD validation

One of the most critical issues in naval architecture these days is the operational safety. Among many factors to be considered for higher safety level requirements, the hull stability in intact and damaged conditions is the first to ensure for both commercial and military vessels. Unlike the intact stability cases, the assessment of the damaged ship stability is very complicated physical phenomena. Therefore it is widely acknowledged that computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods are one of most feasible approaches. In order to develop better CFD methods for damaged ship stability assessment, it is essential to perform well-designed model tests and to build a database for CFD validation. In the present study, free roll decay tests in calm water with both intact and damaged ships were performed and six degree-of-freedom (6DOF) motion responses of intact ship in regular waves were measured. Through the free roll decay tests, the effects of the flooding water on the roll decay motion of a ship were investigated. Through the model tests in regular waves, the database that provides 6DOF motion responses of intact ship was established.

CFD 검증용 데이터베이스 구축을 위한 손상 선박의 횡동요 감쇠 운동에 대한 실험적 연구

Among many factors to be considered for higher safety level requirements, the hull stability in intact and damaged conditions in seaways is of utmost importance. Since the assessment of a damaged ship is complicated due to the highly non-linear behavior, it is widely acknowledged that computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods are one of the most feasible approaches. Although many research activities are being reported on the damaged ship stability recently, most of them are not designed for validation of CFD studies. In this study, well-designed model tests were performed to build a CFD validation database, which is essential in developing better CFD methods for the damage stability assessment. The geometry of the damaged compartment and test conditions were determined based on preliminary CFD simulations. Free roll decay tests in calm water with both intact and damaged ships were performed and the roll motion characteristics were compared. The damaged ship showed a larger roll damping coefficient and more rapid decrease of roll amplitude than the intact ship. The primary reason of these efforts can be explained by the movement of the flooded water.

스프링-점성형 비틀림 진동댐퍼 설계 및 성능 평가에 관한 연구

Design routines of a torsional spring-viscous damper for a 1800 kW four cycle diesel engine-generator system are described. Modal techniques for system normalization and optimal equations for damper design are used to obtain proper design parameters of the damper. A prototype damper is manufactured according to the described design process and its two design parameters, stiffness and damping, are evaluated experimentally by torsional actuator test and free decay test. Experimentally obtained values of stiffness and damping coefficients showed good agreements with the designed values of the prototype damper.

Hydrodynamic In-Line Force Coefficients of Oscillating Bluff Cylinders (Circular and Square) at Low Reynolds Numbers

An attempt to measure indirectly the hydrodynamic drag (cD) and inertia (cM) coefficients on oscillating bluff cylinders (circular and square) in quiescent fluid at low Reynolds numbers (low Stokes number) is presented. The Keulegan–Carpenter number was below 15. The experimental approach is based on performing free-decay tests of a spring-mounted cylinder submerged in a water tank. The identification of the instantaneous modal parameters (damping and frequency), via Hilbert transform, of the decaying oscillations allows the determination of (cD) and (cM) by direct comparison with the damping and natural frequency of the system in still air (tank without water). Advantages and shortcomings of this novel experimental approach are presented along the paper.

Practical Estimation of the Longitudinal and Lateral Hydrodynamic Coefficients of Underwater Vehicle by Free Decay Pendulum Motion

A good dynamics model is essential and critical for dynamic analysis of underwater vehicle. However, it is difficult to determine the hydro-dynamics forces, especially the added mass and the drag coefficients. In this paper, an experimental method has been used to find the hydrodynamics forces for a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV). The proposed method is based on the classical free decay test. The experiment was video captured, then processed by a Covariance Tracking MATLABTM computer program to determine the time history of the swinging angle of the model, then the values were numerically processed by least square method to determine the coefficients values, which compared with the simulation results obtained from well-established computational fluid dynamics (CFX) program. Thus, the proposed approach can be used to find the added mass and drag coefficients for other underwater vehicles.

A Decrement Method for Quantifying Nonlinear and Linear Damping in Multidegree of Freedom Systems

A method is presented which can estimate the linear and nonlinear damping parameters in a lightly damped multidegree of freedom system which allows the system to be decomposed into a set of single degree of freedom nonlinear systems. Only a single response measurement from a free decay test is required as input ensuring that the magnitude of the damping parameters is not compromised by phase distortion between measurements. The response is band-pass filtered in the time domain, around each of the natural frequencies. While this provides a free response measurement for each mode, it introduces a restriction as the natural frequencies must be distinct and separated. The instantaneous energy of each trace is used to describe the long-term evolution of the mode. This is achieved by using only the peak amplitudes in each period, and so the stiffness and inertial forces are effectively ignored, and only the damping forces are considered. Thus, the method is not unlike the familiar decrement method, which can estimate the viscous damping in linear systems. The method is developed for a weakly nonlinear, lightly damped two-degree-of-freedom system, with both linear and Coulomb damping. Simulated response data is used to demonstrate the accuracy of the technique.

A Study of the Roll Motion by Means of a Free Decay Test

In this study, a method for the extraction of damping by tracing free roll decay is presented. For this purpose, in calm waters, a bulk carrier model is given a large initial roll angle and then released. Consequently, the roll motion is recorded. Restoring coefficients and virtual moments of inertia for the model are determined by means of an inclining test and recording the damped period, respectively. The linear damping coefficient is evaluated by using the damping ratio. Four different forms of combinations of restoring moment and damping coefficient are assumed in order to determine the nonlinear form of the roll motion. These equations are numerically solved for various damping coefficients and results are compared with the experimental data. By virtue of this comparison, the damping coefficients are determined for each case. It may be concluded that the use of the nonlinear restoring moment, which is an odd polynomial of the fifth order, and the cubic form for the nonlinear damping moment best fits the roll behavior for the ship model. The amount of energy dissipated by the damping moments is also calculated in the time domain. The energy method also confirms that the nonlinear form of restoring force in conjunction with the cubic form of the damping force is the best solution of the roll motion for small to large angles.

Effects of frequency ratio on bridge aerodynamics determined by free-decay sectional model tests

A series of wind tunnel free-decay sectional model dynamic tests were conducted to examine the effects of torsional-to-vertical natural frequency ratio of 2DOF bridge dynamic systems on the aerodynamic and dynamic properties of bridge decks. The natural frequency ratios tested were around 2.2:1 and 1.2:1 respectively, with the fundamental vertical natural frequency of the system held constant for all the tests. Three 2.9 m long twin-deck bridge sectional models, with a zero, 16% (intermediate gap) and 35% (large gap) gap-to-width ratio, respectively, were tested to determine whether the effects of frequency ratio are dependent on bridge deck cross-section shapes. The results of wind tunnel tests suggest that for the model with a zero gap-width, a model to approximate a thin flat plate, the flutter derivatives, and consequently the aerodynamic forces, are relatively independent of the torsional-to-vertical frequency ratio for a relatively large range of reduced wind velocities, while for the models with an intermediate gap-width (around 16%) and a large gap-width (around 35%), some of the flutter derivatives, and therefore the aerodynamic forces, are evidently dependent on the frequency ratio for most of the tested reduced velocities. A comparison of the modal damping ratios also suggests that the torsional damping ratio is much more sensitive to the frequency ratio, especially for the two models with nonzero gap (16% and 35% gap-width). The test results clearly show that the effects of the frequency ratio on the flutter derivatives and the aerodynamic forces were dependent on the aerodynamic cross-section shape of the bridge deck.

Identification of Flutter Derivatives of Bridge Decks in Wind Tunnel Test by Stochastic Subspace Identification

Problem statement: Flutter derivatives are the essential parameters in the estimations of the flutter critical wind velocity and the responses of long-span cable supported bridges. These derivatives can be experimentally estimated from wind tunnel test results. Generally, wind tunnel test methods can be divided into free decay test and buffeting test. Compared with the free decay method, the buffeting test is simpler but its outputs appear random-like. This makes the flutter derivatives extraction from its outputs more difficult and then a more advanced system identification is required. Most of previous studies have used deterministic system identification techniques, in which buffeting forces and responses are considered as noises. These previous techniques were applicable only to the free decay method. They also confronted some difficulties in extracting flutter derivatives at high wind speeds and under turbulence flow cases where the buffeting responses dominate. Approach: In this study, the covariance-driven stochastic subspace identification technique (SSI-COV) was presented to extract the flutter derivatives of bridge decks from the buffeting test results. An advantage of this method is that it considers the buffeting forces and responses as inputs rather than as noises. Numerical simulations and wind tunnel tests of a streamlined thin plate model conducted under smooth flow by the free decay and the buffeting tests were used to validate the applicability of the SSI-COV method. Then, wind tunnel tests of a two-edge girder blunt type of Industrial-Ring-Road Bridge deck (IRR) were conducted under smooth and turbulence flow. Results: The identified flutter derivatives of the thin plate model by the SSI-COV technique agree well with those obtained theoretically. The results from the thin plate and the IRR Bridge deck validated the reliability and applicability of the SSI-COV technique to various experimental methods and conditions of wind flow. Conclusion/Recommendations: The SSI-COV was successfully employed to identify flutter derivatives of bridge decks with reliable results. It is a proven technique that can be readily applied to identify flutter derivatives of other bridge decks either by the free decay or the buffeting tests.

A decrement method for quantifying nonlinear and linear damping parameters

A method is presented which can estimate the linear and nonlinear damping parameters in a lightly damped system. Only a single response measurement from a free decay test is required as input. This ensures that the magnitude of the damping parameters is not compromised by phase distortion between measurements. The method uses the instantaneous energy to describe the long-term evolution of the system. Practically this is achieved by using only the peak amplitudes in each period. In this way the stiffness is effectively ignored, and only the damping forces are considered. For this reason, the method is not unlike the familiar decrement method, which can be used to estimate the apparent linear damping. The method is developed in the context of a weakly nonlinear, lightly damped system, with both linear and cubic damping. Simulated response data is used to demonstrate the accuracy of the technique. The nonlinear damping parameter is extracted from the response data to within 5% of the exact value, even though the nonlinear term contributes less than 1% to the total force in the system.