Periodic Reporting for period 2 - RESET (REliability and Safety Engineering and Technology for large maritime engineering systems)
Berichtszeitraum: 2019-05-01 bis 2023-02-28
The research contributes to European economic competitiveness by producing a group of highly creative researchers, with the expertise and skills that allow them to become productive and insightful engineers and scientists. It also establishes collaborative mechanisms for long-term partnerships between European and Asian researchers and institutes, with expertise in reliability and safety assessment of large complex maritime engineering systems. Similarly, this shall advance reliability and safety modelling and decision making, in order to address the issues of technology changes and emerging uncertainties in the 21st century.
The overall aim of this exchange programme is to bring together an international team of researchers with a wide variety of skills in reliability and safety research of large maritime engineering systems, and to tackle challenges faced by industry which require specialist knowledge and innovation. The research covers the fundamental study of reliability and safety, as well as applications in different maritime systems such as offshore installations, ships, offshore wind farms, and other MTO systems.
The project has 9 partners (5 EU members and 4 TC members) who have agreed for a program of extensive exchange of both Experienced Researchers (ERs) and Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) during 70 months, in order to fully explore and exploit the complementary strengths and synergies within the consortium. The interdisciplinary nature of the exchange programme offers a link for research and training of the involved ERs and ESRs, in a collaborative academic environment. This serves to support and reinforce the collaborations amongst the participants and helps establish a long-term research collaboration.
Sophisticated numerical and assessment methods have been developed to evaluate accurately the nonlinear structural response of ageing fixed offshore wind turbine during seismic activities, considering the loading effects and resistance of the complex structural systems, under specified and/or highly uncertain conditions. A novel approach for modelling of complex dependencies in interdependent networks has been proposed by leveraging multivariate copulas. A methodology has been developed for determining the most suitable floating offshore wind farm locations.
Case studies have been developed to demonstrate a number of developed models such as a reliability analysis technique for network systems with sparse data, a reliability quantification technique using data from diverse sources, a simulation based reliability analysis technique, a non-linear multiple criteria decision making approach for effective maintenance, a simulation based ship operation method and a human reliability assessment method. A case study on a monopile offshore wind turbine structure subjected to the coupled loads originating from wind, soil interactions and possible seismic activities, has been analysed. A probabilistic model to characterize major accident scenarios in offshore floating facilities with a case study of a Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel has been developed and demonstrated.
Apart from training of ESRs involved in this project, the scientific impact of the proposed research has been facilitated through high-quality papers in the most prestigious and relevant journals and also conference presentations. Within the consortium, the results generated by the project have been disseminated via exchange visits, workshops, conferences, the project website and industrial visits. The dissemination strategy also aims to communicate effectively with parties outside the project, such as other European project consortia (e.g. REMESH and ARCWIND) and potential users of large maritime engineering systems. The produced results have been published and continue to be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and international conference proceedings.
Reliability and safety of large maritime engineering systems represents an innovative technology that is generating considerable interest in the maritime industry, particularly in light of the ongoing emphasis on sustainability and the recent UN commitment on net zero carbon by 2050. The research has generated impact beyond the academic community in terms of the understanding on how the RESET principles can be effectively and efficiently used in large maritime and other engineering systems. For example, the three relevant Health & Safety Executive (HSE) guidelines have been produced: 1) Effective collision risk management for offshore installations, HSE Book, 2019, 200 pages; 2) Ship/Platform collision incident database (2015), HSE Books, 2019; 3) Collision detection on the UKCS (UK Continental Shelf), HSE Books, 2019. 184 offshore oil and gas platforms on the UKCS and 1,327 worldwide have benefited from these guidelines since 2019. The outcomes of the research provide useful advances on how significant hazards are identified and how their associated risks and reliability are estimated so as to take measures through rational decision making.
LJMU have developed a dual PhD programme in Engineering with MU and a dual PhD in Maritime Technology with WUT through this project. Other European partners are looking at similar collaborative opportunities with the TC partners.