Genesis of lithium pegmatites from the leinster granite margin,southeast ireland: Geochemical constraints

Extensive and economically-important lithium pegmatites have been described from the eastern flank of the large S-type peraluminous Leinster Granite batholith in southeast Ireland. This flank area is also the locus of a major dip-slip ductile shear zone which was active during emplacement of the Tullow Lowlands pluton of the batholith. All the known bedrock occurrences of lithium pegmatite are contained within this marginal deformation zone. Most previous studies have suggested derivation of the lithium pegmatites by fractionation from the Leinster Granite itself, though none are conclusive. More recently, an anatectic model has been proposed whereby the pegmatites were derived by melting of Li-rich sediments adjacent to the batholithic contact. Our investigation has been concerned with a detailed study of the Rb-Sr isotope systematics and trace element geochemistry of the pegmatites and their host granitoids in an attempt to resolve the problem of pegmatite genesis. The results suggest a strong geochemical and temporal coherence between the Leinster Granite and the lithium pegmatites. A model is proposed in which Li enrichment in residual magmas may be linked to the development of muscovite instead of biotite in the Leinster Granite itself. The Li excluded from entry to biotite then accumulates in highly mobile, low-viscosity pegmatitic fluids which migrate into the marginal shear zone of the Tullow Lowlands pluton where they crystallize at considerably lower temperatures.     

Extracting energy while reducing hydroelastic responses of VLFS using a modular raft wec-type attachment

This paper presents the use of a modular raft Wave Energy Converter (WEC)-type attachment at the fore edge of a rectangular Very Large Floating Structure (VLFS) for extracting wave energy while reducing hydroelastic responses of the VLFS under wave action. The proposed modular attachment comprises multiple independent auxiliary pontoons (i.e. modules) that are connected to the fore edge of the VLFS with hinges and linear Power Take-Off (PTO) systems. For the hydroelastic analysis, the auxiliary pontoons and the VLFS are modelled by using the Mindlin plate theory while the linear wave theory is used for modelling the fluid motion. The analysis is performed in the frequency domain using the hybrid Finite Element-Boundary Element (FE-BE) method. Parametric studies are carried out to investigate the effects of pontoon length, PTO damping coefficient, gap between auxiliary pontoons, and incident wave angle on the power capture factor as well as reductions in the hydroelastic responses of the VLFS with the modular attachment. It is found that in oblique waves, the modular attachment comprising multiple narrow pontoons outperforms the corresponding rigid attachment that consists of a single wide pontoon with respect to the power capture factor and the reduction in the deflection of the VLFS. In addition, it is possible to have a considerable gap between pontoons without significantly compromising the effectiveness of the modular attachment.     

Experimental investigation on a cabin-suspended catamaran in terms of motion reduction and wave energy harvesting by means of a semi-active motion control system

A novel concept catamaran equipped with a suspended cabin, named Wave Harmonizer Type 4 (WHzer-4), is proposed and evaluated. The mass-spring-mass system is constructed by mounting four sets of suspensions in-between the cabin and the twin-hull. Two sets of dual motor/generators (M/Gs) are attached on the center beam of the cabin's deck fore and aft. Each shaft-end of the dual M/Gs is connected to the twin-hull through a rack-pinion gear unit. In this way the vertical relative motion between the cabin and the twin-hull can be transferred into the rotational motion of the M/Gs, and vice versa. A semi-active motion control system, which contains a proportional-integral (PI) controller, is designed and applied to each of the dual M/Gs for the aim of absorbing wave energy under the condition of suppressing the local vertical velocity of the cabin as much as possible. A 1/5 scale model ship with a length of 1.6 m is built, and a forced-oscillation bench test is implemented to validate the performance of the control system. Then, a series of towing tank tests is carried out in regular head waves. The heave and pitch responses of the cabin, those of the twin-hull and the corresponding wave energy capture width ratio (CWR) at five control scenarios and two reference scenarios are investigated. Discussion on the results of the tank test shows that the motion reduction of the cabin and the wave energy harvesting can be achieved simultaneously at a few wave conditions. However, at other conditions, although noticeable amount of wave energy is harvested, motion reduction of the heave and pitch of the cabin could not be obtained at the same time. It is suggested that varying the gain settings of the PI controllers according to the location of the controllers may improve the effectiveness of the proposed control system.     

Wave tank and bench-top control testing of a wave energy converter

An increasing number of experiments are being conducted to study the design and performance of wave energy converters. Often in these tests, a real-time realization of prospective control algorithms is applied in order to assess and optimize energy absorption as well as other factors. This paper details the design and execution of an experiment for evaluating the capability of a model-scale WEC to execute basic control algorithms. Model-scale hardware, system, and experimental design are considered, with a focus on providing an experimental setup capable of meeting the dynamic requirements of a control system. To more efficiently execute such tests, a dry bench testing method is proposed and utilized to allow for controller tuning and to give an initial assessment of controller performance; this is followed by wave tank testing. The trends from the dry bench test and wave tank test results show good agreement with theory and confirm the ability of a relatively simple feedback controller to substantially improve energy absorption. Additionally, the dry bench testing approach is shown to be an effective and efficient means of designing and testing both controllers and actuator systems for wave energy converters.     

Hydrodynamic performance of a T-shaped floating breakwater

The comprehensive utilization of floating breakwaters, specially acting as a supporting structure for offshore marine renewable energy explorations, has received more and more attention recently. Based on linear water-wave theory, the hydrodynamic performance of a T-shaped floating breakwater is semi-analytically investigated through the matched eigenfunction expansion method (MEEM). Auxiliary functions, to speed up the convergence and improve the accuracy in the numerical computations, are introduced to represent the singular behavior of fluid field near the lower salient corners of the structure. The effects of the height and installation position of the vertical screen on the reflection and transmission coefficients, dynamic response and wave forces are examined. It is found that the presence of the screen shifts the resonance frequency of RAO for both surge and pitch modes to the low-frequency area, while has no effect on heave mode. The identical added masses, damping and transmission coefficients can be obtained in the cases where the screen holds the same distance away from the longitudinal central axis of the upper box-type structure. Moreover, a relatively small pitch response can be achieved in a wide wave–frequency range, when the breakwater is Γ-shaped.     

An efficient hybrid integral-equation method for point-absorber wave energy converters with a vertical axis of symmetry

To assist in the prototyping and controller design of point-absorber wave energy converters (WECs), an easy-to-implement hybrid integral-equation method is presented for computing the frequency-domain hydrodynamic properties of bodies with a vertical axis of symmetry in waves. The current hybrid method decomposes the flow domain into two parts: an inner domain containing the body and an outer domain extending to infinity. The solution in the inner domain is computed using the boundary-element method, and the outer-domain solution is expressed using eigenfunctions. Proper matching at the domain boundary is achieved by enforcing continuity of velocity potential and its normal derivative. Body symmetry allows efficient computation using ring sources in the inner domain. The current method is successfully applied to three different body geometries including a vertical truncated floating cylinder, the McIver toroid, and the coaxial-cylinder WEC being developed in the authors’ laboratory. In particular, the current results indicate that, by replacing the flat bottom of the coaxial-cylinder WEC with the Berkeley-Wedge (BW) shape, viscous effect can be significantly reduced with only minor negative impact on wave-exciting force, thus increasing WEC efficiency. Finally, by comparing to experimental measurements, the current method is demonstrated to accurately predict the heave added mass and wave-exciting force on the coaxial-cylinder WEC with BW geometry. If a viscous damping correction factor is used, the heave motion amplitude can also be accurately computed.     

Experimental investigation of tsunami bore impact pressure on a perforated seawall

Catastrophic failures of many tsunami barriers along the affected coasts during the 2011 Tohoku earthquake tsunami has prompted extensive investigation into improving and revising design codes for tsunami defence structures. To date, researchers and coastal engineers are investigating to understand the failure mechanisms and to find solutions so that the structures merely remain intact in the extreme event such as tsunami. Thus, the present work is motivated to experimentally study tsunami-induced bore pressures exerted on vertical seawalls; a solid vertical wall and a porous vertical seawall that consisted of a perforated front wall and a solid rear wall. Bores with various heights and velocities were generated by using the dam-break method. A porous seawall with 20% porosity of perforated front wall was used in this study. Bore pressures exerted on the solid rear wall and chamber oscillations that occurred in the experiments were also discussed. The experimental results showed that multiple peak pressures were observed during bore run-up phase in the time series of bore impacts. A predictive equation to estimate the maximum bore pressure on a perforated seawall was developed using multiple regression analysis. The proposed equation was also compared with previous empirical formulas.     

Analysis of the extreme wave elevation due to second-order diffraction around a vertical cylinder

Statistical analysis of nonlinear random waves is important in coastal and ocean engineering. One approach for modeling nonlinear waves is second-order random wave theory, which involves sum- and difference-frequency interactions between wave components. The probability distribution of the non-Gaussian surface elevation can be solved using a technique developed by Kac and Siegert [21]. The wave field can be significantly modified by wave diffraction due to a structure, and the nonlinear diffracted wave elevation can be of interest in certain applications, such as the airgap prediction for an offshore structure. This paper investigates the wave statistics due to second-order diffraction, motivated by the scarcity of prior research. The crossing rate approach is used to evaluate the extreme wave elevation over a specified duration. The application is a bottom-supported cylindrical structure, for which semi-analytical solutions for the second-order transfer functions are available. A new efficient statistical method is developed to allow the distribution of the diffracted wave elevation to be obtained exactly, accounting for the statistical dependency between the linear, sum-frequency and difference-frequency components. Moreover, refinements are proposed to improve the efficiency for computing the free surface integral. The case study yields insights into the problem. In particular, the second-order nonlinearity is found to significantly amplify the extreme wave elevation, especially in the upstream region; conversely, the extreme elevation at an oblique location downstream is attenuated due to sheltering effects. The statistical dependency between the linear and sum-frequency components is also shown to be important for the extreme wave statistics.     

Wave run-up on bermed coastal structures

Reliable estimation of wave run-up is required for the effective and efficient design of coastal structures when flooding or wave overtopping volumes are an important consideration in the design process. In this study, a unified formula for the wave run-up on bermed structures has been developed using collected and existing data. As data on berm breakwaters was highly limited, physical model tests were conducted and the run-up was measured. Conventional governing parameters and influencing factors were then used to predict the dimensionless run-up level with 2% exceedance probability. The developed formula includes the effect of water depth which is required in understanding the influence of sea level rise and consequent changes of wave height to water depth ratio on the future hydraulic performance of the structures. The accuracy measures such as RMSE and Bias indicated that the developed formula is more accurate than the existing formulas. Additionally, the new formula was validated using field measurements and its superiority was observed when compared to the existing prediction formulas. Finally, the new design formula incorporating the partial safety factor was introduced as a design tool for engineers.     

Temporal variation of modulated-wave-train geometries and their influence on vertical bending moments of a container ship

A towing experiment was conducted using a modulated wave train to investigate the vertical bending responses of a hydro-structural container ship model. In the experiment, a spatially periodic modulated wave train, as a model of a freak wave in successive high waves mimicking the so-called three sisters, was generated by the recently established higher-order spectral method wave generation (HOSM-WG) method. HOSM-WG enables us to control the location and timing of the maximum crest height in a wave tank. With precise control of the towing carriage, an experiment was conducted in which the timing of the encounters between the ship model and the modulated wave train was accurately determined. The maximum sagging moment (SM) was found to increase in proportion with the encounter wave height. However, because of differences in the relative depth of the fore and aft troughs, the maximum SM is highly variable for a given wave height. The temporal wave-geometry evolution caused the relative trough-depth to vary significantly within a wave period in the vicinity of the maximum crest height. As a result, depending on the encounter timing, the SM varied considerably for a given wave height. The temporal variation of the wave geometry is a robust feature of a modulated wave train and is common between the spatially periodic and temporally periodic modulated wave trains.