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Wave Tank Upgrade Aids Hull Design
19 Nov 2007
With marine technology advancing on an almost daily basis, there is a huge demand for model testing facilities capable of running highly accurate and reproducible tests.
The Norwegian Marine Technology Research Institute (MARINTEK), located at Trondheim in Norway, offers one of the biggest ocean basin laboratories in the world. At 80m long, 50m wide and with an adjustable depth of 0 to 10m, it recreates sea conditions using an array of flaps, two on the end and 144 single flaps along its length. In addition, the basin is equipped with a carriage system that caters for free running models at speeds of up to 5m/s, at any angle to the waves.
MARINTEK has chosen Moog Controls as partner to upgrade the Ocean Basin, which was built in 1981, with new technology. The aim is to not only make the system more robust and more reliable but also to provide enhanced capabilities, such as larger waves over a wider area of the basin and more directional flexibility. The most important driver for the upgrade was the need to increase overall performance. Indeed, an accuracy of 0.1 degrees for all flaps was requested to guarantee the creation of highly reproducible waves with a height of up to 0.4m as little as every 1.6 seconds.
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