Structural Systems

The Energy Transition

MaREI’s Structural Systems capabilities focus on the analysis of renewable energy/marine structural dynamics, and on aspects such as the development of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) techniques for monitoring their condition during the operational phase. Effective SHM techniques can significantly reduce maintenance costs and intervals, thus reducing revenue loss due to system downtime. The ‘Structural Systems’ team work closely with the ‘Novel Material Design’  and ‘Maritime Structures Engineering’  teams to provide a holistic and integrated approach to the optimisation and advancement of MaREI’s Materials & Structures objectives.

The lack of information relating to the quantified value of monitoring, testing and inspection in the presence of uncertainties has proven to be a barrier to date. Methods employed by the ‘Structural Systems’ team include advanced mathematical methods using Bayesian belief networks, with subsequent implementation in real-world situations. For more information relating to MaREI’s ‘Structural Systems’ capabilities, please contact one of the team members below.

Core Research Areas Include

  • The development of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) techniques for renewable energy devices and marine structures
  • Underwater image-processing techniques for the inspection of infrastructure
  • Optimised data analytics for infrastructure maintenance management

Ongoing Projects

  • Bridge sms– Intelligent bridge assessment maintenance & management system
  • Accelerated life testing study of openhydro tidal turbine blades
  • Design optimisation and testing of wind and tidal turbine blades
  • Simulation of cyclic behaviour of square and rectangular steel hollow sections using conventional and novel finite element methods
  • Non-contact measurement techniques for structural systems
  • EU horizon 2020: (h2020eeb2014637221) project: built2spec – self-inspection, 3d modelling, management and quality-check tools

Former Projects

  • STRUCTURAL TESTING FOR SIEMENS/MCT TIDAL TURBINE BLADES
  • MARINET