Prediction of Long-Term Extreme Response of Fish Cage Using Environmental Contour Method

The fish cage design requires accurate predictions of long-term extreme loads and responses.Compared with the time-consuming full long-term analysis method integrating all the probability distribution of the short-term extremes,the environmental contour method gains much attention in predicting the long-term extreme values due to the less computational effort.This paper investigates the long-term extreme response of a fish cage using the environmental contour method.The fish cage is numerically simulated based on the lumped-mass method and the curved beam theory.Based on the one-dimensional(1D)and two-dimensional(2D)environmental contour,the extreme responses,including the surge and heave motions,mooring force,and vertical bending of the floater,are predicted for different return periods and compared with the full long-term analysis results.Results indicate that the 1D method greatly underestimates the extreme values.The 2D environmental contour method with a higher percentile level,namely90%,provides reasonable estimations and seems to be suitable for the long-term value analysis.Sensitivity studies show that the mooring arrangement and the bending stiffness have great effects on the bending moment and the mooring force and the mooring line pre-tension has minor effects on the fish cage response.