Thesis (M.G.S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Sociology and Gerontology, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 44-47).

Novel environments and biological communities created by the large-scale deployment of Marine Renewable Energy Devices (MREDs) have the potential to promote the spread of non-native species (NNS). Knowledge of how community composition resident on MREDs is shaped by geography, local hydrodynamics and the duration of deployment, will clarify how these technologies will interact with natural habitats, including the provision of suitable habitat for NNS. A network of navigation buoys was used to study biofouling communities in areas proposed for MRED deployment. Significant differences in community structure were observed in different geographic areas. A significant reduction in number of taxa present and community wet-weight was observed where buoys were deployed in greater tidal flow rates. However, overall community composition was not significantly different between ‘high’ (>1 ms-1) and ‘low’ (<1 ms-1) flow areas and for buoys deployed for different time durations (1-7 years). These finding have important implications for the longevity of devices and their interaction with natural habitats, including proposed ‘artificial reef’ effects. In total five non-native species were identified on the buoys sampled, supporting the need to monitor MREDs as the industry grows. Hydrodynamic and biotic features of the epibenthic communities were used to predict the presence of the most prevalent NNS, the amphipod Caprella mutica, in addition to other native amphipod species. Caprella mutica presence was found to be significantly affected by increasing flow speed compared with the native amphipod Jassa herdmani. Behavioural flume studies investigating flow-related processes governing the presence of non-native amphipods supported these findings. This study details how the hydrodynamic and biological environments created by MREDs determine their suitability for the establishment of self-sustaining populations, and therefore their dispersal potential for NNS. These findings inform design criteria and management options to minimise the biosecurity risk that these structures will pose as the industry expands.

Thesis. 1975. M.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Meteorology. / Bibliography: leaves 70-72. / M.S.

Complex nonlinear and chaotic responses have been recently observed in various compliant ocean systems. These systems are characterized by a nonlinear mooring restoring force and a coupled fluid-structure interaction exciting force. A general class of ocean mooring system models is formulated by incorporating a variable mooring configuration and the exact form of the hydrodynamic excitation. The multi-degree of freedom system, subjected to combined parametric and external excitation, is shown to be complex, coupled and strongly nonlinear. Stability analysis by a Liapunov function approach reveals global system attraction which ensures that solutions remain bounded for small excitation. Construction of the system's Poincare map and stability analysis of the map's fixed points correspond to system stability of near resonance periodic orbits. Investigation of nonresonant solutions is done by a local variational approach. Tangent and period doubling bifurcations are identified by both local stability analysis techniques and are further investigated to reveal global bifurcations. Application of Melnikov's method to the perturbed averaged system provides an approximate criterion for the existence of transverse homoclinic orbits resulting in chaotic system dynamics. Further stability analysis of the subharmonic and ultraharmonic solutions reveals a cascade of period doubling which is shown to evolve to a strange attractor. Investigation of the bifurcation criteria obtained reveals a steady state superstructure in the bifurcation set. This superstructure identifies a similar bifurcation pattern of coexisting solutions in the sub, ultra and ultrasubharmonic domains. Within this structure strange attractors appear when a period doubling sequence is infinite and when abrupt changes in the size of an attractor occur near tangent bifurcations. Parametric analysis of system instabilities reveals the influence of the convective inertial force which can not be neglected for large response and the bias induced by the quadratic viscous drag is found to be a controlling mechanism even for moderate sea states. Thus, stability analyses of a nonlinear ocean mooring system by semi-analytical methods reveal the existence of bifurcations identifying complex periodic and aperiodic nonlinear phenomena. The results obtained apply to a variety of nonlinear ocean mooring and towing system configurations. Extensions and applications of this research are discussed. / Graduation date: 1992

The mooring of vessels and other floating bodies at sea, such as offshore platforms has necessitated the development of specialised moorings technology. The marine renewable energy (MRE) sector is now at a stage in its development whereby floating devices are adding new challenges to the moorings industries. Floating MRE devices are smaller than, for instance offshore platforms, and are usually targeted for deployment in highly energetic environments. The extreme conditions and the highly dynamic response of an MRE device present challenges in terms of peak loading within the mooring system itself and load transfer to the floating body. Compliant mooring systems provide advantages by reducing the peak loads and fibre ropes are an important asset in achieving such compliance. However, the extent to which existing fibre ropes can safely extend axially to provide compliance is insufficient and is strongly associated to the minimum breaking load (MBL) of the rope. A novel fibre rope mooring tether is presented here that provides advantages over existing ropes. The tether employs a hollow fibre rope containing an elastomeric core, this mechanism de-coupling the extension properties from the strength of the line. The load path is carried through the polyester rope which is terminated conventionally by eye splices, thus minimising any new risks to reliability. Very low axial stiffness is achieved and is shown to be selectable within limits. For comparison, the prototype tether’s MBL of 222 kN is assigned to polyester and Nylon reference ropes. The axial stiifness of these ropes are 590 kN and 463 kN respectively when measured by a secant between the origin and 30% MBL; the novel tether displays an axial stiffness of 72 kN by the same method. This enables the novel tether to achieve more than two and a half times the extension of a comparable Nylon rope in its working range. Numerical modelling of a moored installation demonstrates a threefold reduction in peak load magnitude compared to the existing Nylon rope solution. The tether exhibits two distinct stages of extension, the first having very low axial stiffness. It is demonstrated that the extent of this soft phase can be selected by design and that this might add another useful element of control to moorings design work.