BLUES - Floating structures for the next generation ocean industries

The objective of SFI BLUES is to enable Norwegian ocean-based industries to provide floating support structures for floating offshore wind, floating solar power plants, aquaculture, and coastal infrastructure. The world is facing several industrial and societal challenges, and the ocean provides great opportunities which can contribute to solving several of them. Due to the ongoing transition in the world's energy mix to meet the goals stated in the Paris agreement, the need for clean energy is now global. Changes in diets and an increase in the world's population also generate a need for safe and healthy food. Further, in a changing climate, requests for increased mobility, as well as shortage on area, introduce a need for resilient infrastructure in coastal waters for transportation as well as industrial and residential developments. Floating support structures have a huge potential for contributing to solving these challenges, but new applications of imply new needs and requirements to safety, sustainability, cost, function and operation. This leads to structures where we have limited experience. These structures will be diverse, but they have essential needs in common. Key research and industry partners will work together in SFI BLUES in a joint effort to solve common scientific challenges. This will enable novel floating structures for future needs, which contribute to solutions for global challenges. The industry partners represent complete value chains across several markets and therefore SFI BLUES has a large potential to contribute to increased value creation. The centre has had extensive activity within all research areas. 1 PhD-student and 1 post doc has been employed, and the centre has 1 new associated PhD-student. 8 PhD-students and 4 post docs are no working in the centre. 10 MSc-students graduated in 2022, and 15 new students have started. Several of the master students are working in collaboration with the user partners. Four use cases have been defined: floating offshore wind, floating solar, novel aquaculture structures and floating coastal infrastructure. The use cases are actively being used to identify knowledge and technology gap, which again are used to define the research activity in the centre. Some results from the current research activity are given below. High resolution wave models are needed to establish a solid basis for design of floating structures in the complex coastal zone. DNORA is a newly developed open-source software which automates downscaling of wave models from the open ocean to the coastal zone. DNORA saves time and resources and ensures quality in results from wave models in the coastal zone. DNORA is tool that can be applied in research, education and industrial applications. Model testing of large structures, such floating solar or floating bridges, require high quality waves in a large area of an ocean basin. Spatial inhomogeneity of waves is particularly important. Inhomogeneities can be unwanted (caused by geometric features of the basin) or wanted (to represent coastal waves). A promising method, which exploits linear wave theory and the control system of the wave maker, has been developed and can to a large extent handle both types of inhomogeneity. The method will contribute to reduced uncertainties in model tests. A large data set from unique model tests of a floating bridge has been studied. Four scientific publications are under peer review, and they describe wave loads, motions, and damping properties of pontoons in floating bridges. The results can contribute to risk reduction and improved bridge design. The results are transferable to other similar structures such as submerged floating tube bridges. Mechanical connections are widely used for assembling aluminium to steel elements in offshore structures. A challenge is galvanic corrosion of aluminium and resulting degradation of mechanical properties. Development of tools to predict corrosion in such connections will contribute to improved solutions which less demand for maintenance. A numerical framework which couples corrosion modelling with structural modelling is under development. In 2022, the activities have been focused on defining and executing a testing program, that can be used as reference for the modelling work. A first version of a new numerical tool for studying the interaction between mooring line, seabed and anchor has been developed. The tool will contribute to safer and better mooring solutions. The tool will also contribute to development of new mooring solutions, for instance with several mooring lines connected to the same anchor. Such solutions may contribute to cost reductions within for instance floating wind.

BLUES is a new Centre for Research-Based Innovation which brings together key research, industry and public partners. The aim is to address the essential needs outlined below, enabling Norwegian ocean-based industries to provide floating solutions for present and future industrial and societal challenges. The world is facing several industrial and societal challenges, and the ocean provides great opportunities which can contribute to solving several of them. Due to the ongoing transition in the world's energy mix to meet the goals stated in the Paris agreement, the need for clean energy is now global. Changes in diets and an increase in the world's population also generate a need for safe and healthy food. Further, in a changing climate, requests for increased mobility, as well as shortage on area, introduce a need for resilient infrastructure in coastal waters for transportation as well as industrial and residential developments. Floating support structures have a huge potential for contributing to solving these challenges, but new applications of imply new needs and requirements to safety, sustainability, cost, function and operation. This leads to structures where we have limited experience. These structures will be diverse, but they have essential needs in common: - To understand their requirements to function, safety, cost, operation and sustainability, in order to develop optimized solutions. - To develop numerical and experimental high-quality validated design tools. - To base the design on reliable descriptions of the marine environment. - To understand the interaction between the environment (wind, waves, current) and structures. - To develop structures with sustainable, safe and cost-efficient materials. - To develop mooring systems and anchors to keep the floating structures in position. To unlock the potential of novel floating structures, we need to understand the requirements of the applications, the associated technology gaps and knowledge needs.

Publications from Cristin

Experimental study of drag loads on open and closed low-aspect-ratio circular cylinders in steady current

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of a Vertical Pre-tensioned Membrane Sheet in Regular Waves

A floating membrane solar island study

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of a Vertical Pre-tensioned Membrane Sheet in Regular Waves

Integrated dynamic analysis of a spar floating wind turbine with a hydraulic drivetrain

In situ coastal observations of wave homogeneity and coherence

On Common Research Needs for the Next Generation of Floating Support Structures

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Smart forklart: Flytende byer

Solkraft (4:4): Flytende sol

Abels tårn: Fremtidens byer - En speilvegg i ørkenen og flytende byer

Store havvindambisjoner – lenge igjen

Vannflater kan bli en enorm kilde til fornybar energi

Disse kan dekke verdens energibehov i fremtiden

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Tools for Analysis and Downscaling the open-access wave hindcast (NORA3) and forecast (WW3_4km)

DNORA: an open-access tool for high resolution dynamical downscaling of ocean waves

Floating wind turbine in wake

Nylon Fibre Ropes for the Mooring of Floating Wind Turbines

SFI Physmet and research on welding technologies for metallic materials and applications to offshore wind structures

Status, progress and plans for wave-structure interaction

Corrosion in Alu-Steel connections, membrane materials, and couplings in modular structures

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SFI BLUES - Annual report 2022

SFI BLUES - Annual report 2021

Modelling of Large Modular Floating Structures, a Literature Review

A review on Aluminium as structural components in offshore structures

SFI BLUES Annual report 2020

Joining of aluminium in similar- and dissimilar-material connections and marine environment State of the art

State of the art: Design optimization of floating marine structures

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Hva er en flytende by og hva skal vi med det?

What are floating cities and do we need them?

SFI BLUES – A new centre for research-based innovation on novel floating structures

SFI BLUES

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