Session: 05-02-01 Aquaculture and Related Technology I

Submission Number: 156218

Modelling Focused Breaking Wave Interactions With Pile-Net Aquaculture Structures (PNAS) Using REEF3D 

The decoding of the hydrodynamics of aquaculture pens, which are composed of numerous pile-net substructures, is a major step in the design phase since it is closely relevant to the loads on the structure and safety issues. The soaring occurring loads in the rogue waves should be mostly concentrated leading to the potential unexpected failure of piles or nets. Moreover, the significance of the net system plays a crucial role for the hydrodynamics of aquaculture pens on account of damping effects.

The 6DOF algorithm coupled with the numerical wave tank through the continuous directly forcing methods embedded in the open-source CFD code REEF3D are considered in this study. The fluid-structure interaction of the pile-net aquaculture structures (PNAS) in focused breaking waves modelled by the transient wave packets spectrum are investigated. The Dirichlet method is performed for the wave generation while the active wave absorption is utilised to alleviate wave reflections in the numerical beach. High-order finite differences are used to discretise convection and time terms on a staggered grid. The effects of fixed nets are highlighted using a two-way coupled simulation, which combines a Lagrangian approach with the fluid solution on a fixed grid. 

The solver is validated against exemplary experimental or simulated data from previous research. Then, the wave elevations, impact forces on the PNAS from the global and local scales, along with the local flow patterns are resolved numerically. Focus herein is placed on the influence of the net’s damping effects. This provides a first paradigm towards the evaluation of the hydrodynamics of aquaculture pens in extreme waves.

Presenting Author: Gang Wang Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences

Presenting Author Biography: Dr. Wang serves as an associate professor in the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, his research interests lie in the hydrodynamics modelling of aquaculture structures and fishing gears, especially for the fluid, wave-structure interactions using the open-source CFD codes REEF3D, OpenFOAM.