Ocean Graduate Excellence Network (OGEN)
Shape the future of the ocean
Water exerts forces (loads) on a tidal turbine that are orders of magnitudes greater than loads encountered on wind turbine. Tidal companies still do not have accurate and validated ways of determining expected loads on their turbine during the design stages which leads to either poorly built system that fail prematurely, or overdesigned/overbuilt systems that exponentially increase capital and marine operation costs. This lack of accurate information on spatio-temporal load variations on blade turbines is considered one of the major design risk factors from an engineering point of view, which leads to higher insurance cost on the operation of tidal devices.
The objective of this project is to build on the applicants’ labs’ ability to model and test hydrokinetic turbines to determine local and time-variant turbine blade loads based on real-tidal transient flow. Numerical modeling will be used to perform this long-term research project, with validation from experimental data that will be obtained in part by the PhD candidate.
Dalhousie University operates in the unceded territories of the Mi’kmaw, Wolastoqey, and Peskotomuhkati Peoples. These sovereign nations hold inherent rights as the original peoples of these lands, and we each carry collective obligations under the Peace and Friendship Treaties. Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 recognizes and affirms Aboriginal and Treaty rights in Canada.
We acknowledge that the lands on which Memorial University’s campuses are situated are in the traditional territories of diverse Indigenous groups, and we acknowledge with respect the diverse histories and cultures of the Beothuk, Mi’kmaq, Innu, and Inuit of this province.
