The prediction on in-line vortex-induced vibration of slender marine structures

The in-line （IL） vortex-induced vibration （VIV） that occurs frequently in ocean engineering may cause severe fatigue damage in slender marine structures. To the best knowledge of the authors, in existing literatures, there is no efficient analytical model for predicting pure IL VIV. In this paper, a wake oscillator model capable of analyzing the IL VIV of slender marine structures has been developed. Two different kinds of van der Pol equations are used to describe the near wake dynamics related to the fluctuating nature of symmetric vortex shedding in the first excitation region and alternate vortex shedding in the second one. Some comparisons are carried out between the present model results and experimental data. It is found that many phenomena observed in experiments could be reproduced by the present wake oscillator model.

Marine Structures: Future Trends and the Role of Universities

This paper emphasizes some of the challenges and trends associated with the future development of marine structures. Its main focus is on ways to improve the efficiency of energy-consuming ships, and on design challenges related to energy-producing offshore structures. This paper also discusses the analysis tools that are most needed to enable sustainable designs for future ships and offshore structures. The last section of the paper contains thoughts on the role of universities in education, research, and innovation regarding marine structures. It discusses curriculum requirements for maritime-technology education, basic research activities, and international cooperation.

Reliability-based service life prediction of existing concrete structures under marine environment

Chloride-induced corrosion of the reinforcement is considered as one of the major mechanisms resulting in the reduction of structural resistance of reinforced concrete structural elements located in marine and other aggressive environments. A study of reinforced concrete structures located at the Fangcheng dock in the Beibu Gulf port, China, was present. The result from field survey indicates that the concrete cover depth and chloride diffusion coefficient fit best normal distribution and lognormal distribution, respectively. The service life of structure is about 55 a, while initiation time is 45 a. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the most influential factor of the structure service life prediction is concrete cover, followed by diffusion coefficient, diffusion decay index, critical chloride concentration, surface chloride concentration, current density and localized pitting corrosion. Finally, the effects of diffusion decay index and critical chloride concentration on structure service life prediction are discussed.

Optimum Environmental Load Design Criterion for Marine Structures Based on Investment and Benefit Analysis

Marine structures operating in natural ocean environment are subjected to various stochastic loads. For design of the marine structures, the most important task is to determine environmental load design criterion. This paper presents a method to determine the optimum environmental load design criterion for marine structures. This method is based on the investment and benefit analysis and it can reach the design purpose of decreasing total costs during the service life of the structures and increasing economic benefits.

Durability related environmental zonation and design methodology for marine RC structures

A reliability-based quantitative durability design methodology is presented for reinforced concrete(RC)structures in the marine environment on the basis of natural exposure data derived from four berths(1.5,1.5,4 and 15 years)of a concrete port.More than 200 chloride profiles are obtained and analyzed.The relationship between nominal surface chloride ion concentration and altitude is discussed.Subsequently,the formula of the apparent chloride diffusion coefficient is proposed with consideration of the surrounding temperature,sodium chloride solution concentration,age factor and altitude.Then,the reliability-based method to predict the durability of RC structures is developed according to Fick s second law.Relationships between the predicted penetration depth of the chloride ion,the ratio of the wetting time per-period and the corresponding altitude are discussed.Subsequently,the environmental zonation methodology is established for concrete structures under a marine chloride environment by considering the ratio of the wetting time per-period of concrete as the zoning index.Finally,the corres-ponding durability design method for each zone level is established,which contains the durability design regulations of the specimen,and correction coefficients for different water/binder ratios,ages,temperatures and chloride ion concentrations.

Waves of 3D Marine Structures Slamming at Different Initial Poses in Complex Wind-Wave-Flow Environments

Aimed at the hydrodynamic response for marine structures slamming into water, based on the mechanism analysis to the slamming process, and by combining 3D N-S equation and k-ε turbulent kinetic equation with structure fully 6DOF motion equation, a mathematical model for the wind-fluid-solid interaction is established in 3D marine structure slamming wave at free poses and wind-wave-flow complex environments. Compared with the results of physical model test, the numerical results from the slamming wave well correspond with the experimental results. Through the mathematical model, the wave-making issue of 3D marine structure at initial pose falls into water in different complex wind, wave and flow environments is investigated. The research results show that various kinds of natural factors and structure initial poses have different influence on the slamming wave, and there is an obvious rule in this process.

Dynamic Positioning Control of Surge−Pitch Coupled Motion for Small-Waterplane-Area Marine Structures

For general dynamic positioning systems,controllers are mainly based on the feedback of motions only in the horizontal plane.However,for marine structures with a small water plane area and low metacentric height,undesirable surge and pitch oscillations may be induced by the thruster actions.In this paper,three control laws are investigated to suppress the induced pitch motion by adding pitch rate,pitch angle or pitch acceleration into the feedback control loop.Extensive numerical simulations are conducted with a semi-submersible platform for each control law.The influences of additional terms on surge−pitch coupled motions are analyzed in both frequency and time domain.The mechanical constraints of the thrust allocation and the frequency characters of external forces are simultaneously considered.It is concluded that adding pitch angle or pitch acceleration into the feedback loop changes the natural frequency in pitch,and its performance is highly dependent on the frequency distribution of external forces,while adding pitch rate into the feedback loop is always effective in mitigating surge−pitch coupled motions.

Design Considerations for Pile Groups Supporting Marine Structures with Respect to Scour

Piles supporting marine structures such as jetties, relieving platforms, quay walls and fixed offshore structures are subjected to lateral loads due to berthing and mooring forces, wind, waves, storm surges and current forces. This paper presents some factors that affect the design of pile groups supporting marine structures founded in cohesionless soils. Some main aspects that should be considered in the pile group design are addressed such as pile batter angle, pile group arrangement, pile spacing, pile slenderness ratio and magnitude of lateral static loading. Numerical analyses were conducted to investigate these design aspects with and without impact of scour. Different scour depths were considered to cover the possible root causes of scour around pile groups such as waves, current and ship propeller jets. The study revealed that scour has greater impact on lateral loading of pile groups compared to its impact on single piles. Pile groups with side-by-side arrangement exposed to scour are more critical than single piles and piles groups with tandem arrangement due to the combined effect of scour and pile-soil-pile interaction. It is also concluded that scour protection is not always required. More attention and considerations should be given to scour protection around piles especially if the piles are closely spaced, arranged side-by-side and if slenderness ratio is less than 12.5.

Sensitivity Study on Durability Variables of Marine Concrete Structures

In order to study the influence of parameters on durability of marine concrete structures, the parameter＇s sensitivity analysis was studied in this paper. With the Fick＇s 2nd law of diffusion and the deterministic sensitivity analysis method （DSA）, the sensitivity factors of apparent surface chloride content, apparent chloride diffusion coefficient and its time dependent attenuation factor were analyzed. The results of the analysis show that the impact of design variables on concrete durability was different. The values of sensitivity factor of chloride diffusion coefficient and its time dependent attenuation factor were higher than others. Relative less error in chloride diffusion coefficient and its time dependent attenuation coefficient induces a bigger error in concrete durability design and life prediction. According to probability sensitivity analysis （PSA）, the influence of mean value and variance of concrete durability design variables on the durability failure probability was studied. The results of the study provide quantitative measures of the importance of concrete durability design and life prediction variables. It was concluded that the chloride diffusion coefficient and its time dependent attenuation factor have more influence on the reliability of marine concrete structural durability. In durability design and life prediction of marine concrete structures, it was very important to reduce the measure and statistic error of durability design variables.

Functionally Graded Material and Its Application to Marine Structures

Marine structures are exposed to harsh weather conditions,demanding special pre-requisites in design and functional perspectives.Under dynamic loads of larger magnitude,the material-centric design procedure alone is not feasible to ensure the safe disbursement of loads.The compliant offshore structures resist loads primarily by their geometric novelty,and hence their design is form-dominant and no more strength(material)dominant.Large displacements in the rigid body modes in the horizontal plane under lateral loads require their construction material to possess enough ductility to absorb this energy.Steel is one of the most competitive materials for marine structures as it offers good ductility,but corrosion in the marine environment is a major concern.It undergoes strength and functional degradations and therefore requires serious investigation.In the present study,functionally graded material(FGM)is proposed to substitute for steel in marine applications.The method of fabricating FGM and assessing its mechanical and durability properties are discussed.Results show that FGM possesses strength and durability properties at par with the conventionally used X52 steel for marine risers.The presented study will be a major initiative towards future research in exploring competent materials which will be strong and sustainable in the marine environment.

Marine Structures under Special Loads

Environmental loads that act on marine structures are highly non-deterministic in general.Estimating these loads is a basic requirement for their structural design,but their response is far beyond just counteracting the loads[1,2].The marine environment poses more challenges starting from the choice of material,structural form,design meth­ods,construction techniques,inspection methods,repair,and retrofitting.

A Note on Soil Structure Resistance of Natural Marine Deposits

It has been well documented that natural normally-consolidated marine soils are generally subjected to the effects of soil structure. The interpretation of the resistance of soil structure is an important issue in the theory study and engineering practice of ocean engineering and geotechnical engineering. It is traditionally considered that the resistance of soil structure gradually disappears with increasing stress level when the applied stress is beyond the consolidation yield stress. In this study, however, it is found that this traditional interpretation of the resistance of soil structure can not explain the strength behavior of natural marine deposits with a normally-consolidated stress history. A new interpretation of the resistance of soil structure is proposed based on the strength behavior. In the preyield state, the undrained strength of natural marine deposits is composed of two components: one developed by the applied stress and the other developed by the resistance of soil structure. When the applied stress is beyond the consolidation yield stress, the strength behavior is independent of the resistance of soil structure.

Community structure and biodiversity of free-living marine nematodes in the northern South China Sea

A quantitative study on the community structure and biodiversity of free-living marine nematodes and their relationship with environmental factors in the northern South China Sea were carried out based on the samples collected at five stations in the deep sea （from 313 to 1 600 m） and one station in shallowwaters （87 m） during the cruise in September, 2010. Results showed that the abundance of marine nematodes ranged from 224 to 1 996 ind./（10 cm2）. A total of 69 free-living marine nematode genera, belonging to 26 families and three orders, were identified. The most dominant genera were Sabatieria, Linhystera, Aegialoalaimus and Daptonema according to SIMPER analysis. Results of CLUSTER analysis revealed four types of marine nematode community （or station groups） in the sampling area. In terms of trophic structure, non-selective deposit feeders （1B） and selective deposit feeders （1A） were the dominant trophic types with highest genera numbers and abundances, which implied that organic detritus was the main food source of marine nematodes in the northern South China Sea. The percentage of male nematode was low, ranging from 2.22% to 17.81%, while those of juvenile individuals ranged from 36.99% to 82.09%. For genera level diversity of marine nematodes, Shannon-Wiener diversity indices （H＇） ranged from 3.76 to 4.57 and had highly significant negative correlation with water depth. In general, diversity indices H＇ at the five stations in deep sea （over 200 m） were lower than that at the station in shallow waters （87 m）. BIOENV analysis showed that the most important environmental factor controlling marine nematode communities was water denth.

Influence of structural damage on evaluation of microscopic pore structure in marine continental transitional shale of the Southern North China Basin:A method based on the low-temperature N2 adsorption experiment

Structural damage from sample preparation processes such as cutting and polishing may change the pore structure of rocks.However,changes in pore structure caused by this structural damage from crushing and its effect on marine continental transitional shale have not been well documented.The changes of microscopic pore structure in marine continental transitional shale during the sample preparation have important research value for subsequent exploration and development of shale gas.In this study,the pore structures of transitional shale samples from the Shanxi-Taiyuan Formation of the Southern North China Basin under different degrees of damage were analyzed through low-temperature N;adsorption experiments,combined with X-ray diffraction,total organic carbon,vitrinite reflectance analysis,and scanning electron microscopy.The results showed that(1)With increasing structural damage,the specific surface area(SSA)changed within relatively tight bounds,while the pore volume(PV)varied significantly,and the growth rate(maximum)exhibited a certain critical value with the crushing mesh number increasing from 20 to 200.(2)The ratio of SSA to PV can be used as a potential proxy for evaluating the influence of changes in the pore structure.(3)Correlation analysis revealed that the microscopic pore structure of marine continental transitional shale from the Shanxi-Taiyuan Formations is mainly controlled by organic matter and clay minerals.Clay minerals play a leading role in the development of microscopic pores and changes in pore structure.

Full-Sized Pore Structure and Fractal Characteristics of Marine-Continental Transitional Shale: A Case Study in Qinshui Basin, North China

Based on 10 shale samples collected from 4 wells in Qinshui Basin,we investigate the full-sized pore structure and fractal characteristics of Marine-Continental transitional shale by performing organic geochemistry,mineralogical composition,Nitrogen gas adsorption(N2 adsorption)and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance(NMR)measurements and fractal analysis.Results show that the TOC content of the shale samples is relatively high,with an average value of 2.44wt%,and the thermal evolution is during the mature-over mature stage.The NMR T2 spectrum can be used to characterize the fullsized pore structure characteristics of shale.By combining N2 adsorption pore structure parameters and NMR T2 spectrums,the surface relaxivity of samples are calculated to be between 1.7877 um/s and 5.2272 um/s.On this basis,the T2 spectrums are converted to full-sized pore volume and surface area distribution curves.The statistics show that the pore volume is mainly provided by mesopore,followed by micropore,and the average percentages are 65.04%and 30.83%respectively;the surface area is mainly provided by micropore,followed by mesopore,and the average percentages are 60.8004%and 39.137%respectively;macropore contributes little to pore volume and surface area.The pore structure characteristics of shale have no relationship with TOC,but strong relationships with clay minerals content.NMR fractal dimensions Dmicro and Dmeso have strong positive relationships with the N2 adsorption fractal dimensions D1 and D2 respectively,indicating that Dmicro can be used to characterize the fractal characteristics of pore surface,and Dmeso can be used to characterize the fractal characteristics of pore structure.The shale surface relaxivity is controlled by multiple factors.The increasing of clay mineral content,pore surface area,pore surface fractal dimension and the decreasing of average pore size,will all lead to the decreasing of shale surface relaxivity.

On the Planning of Chinese Marine High-tech Industry Demonstration Zones:From the Perspective of Supply-side Structural Reform

China’s national agricultural high-tech industry demonstration zones focus on supply-side structural reform in their overall plan of development.This paper selected the China’s marine industry as its research subject and analyzes its current situation and major problems.After summarizing the current researches of China’s marine industry parks,from the perspective of supply-side structural reform,this paper specifies the tasks and objectives of the construction of the marine hi-tech industry demonstration zones.The overall planning of the demonstration zones must set distinctive developmen as its orientation,and we should emphasize innovation-driven and green development,devise a functional zoning that embraces marine-land and allround integration,and seek mechanism innovations that could invigorate the inner drive of development.The paper also puts forward the major principles that the planning of marine hi-tech industry demonstration zones should obey in the context of supply-side structural reform.

Structural Geology and Tectonics in Marine Science:Perspectives in the Research of Deep Sea and Deep Interior

The fields of structural geology and tectonics have witnessed great progress over the last decade and are poised for further expansion in the future. One of the significant breakthroughs is the establishment of the 'Beyond Plate Tectonics Theory' where a combination of conceptual models and numerical modeling on plume tectonics and plate tectonics has enabled new insights into the structural and tectonic architecture and processes in the deep interior and deep sea. This paper synthesizes developments of structural geology and tectonics from a macroscopic perspective in deep interior and deep sea. Four key techniques are also reviewed: satellite altimetry for surface structures in deep-sea multi-beam sea-floor mapping; tomography for tectonics of the deep interior; diverse modeling approaches and software for unfolding dynamic evolution; and techniques for HT/HP experiments on material rheology and in situ component measurements.

Basic theory and key technologies for marine geographic information system

Marine geographic information system （MGIS） has great ability to deal with the spatio-temporal problems and has potential superiority when it is applied to oceanography. Using the feature extraction of oceanic phenomena as a case study, the functions of the MGIS are analyzed, and thus the position of MGIS in the oceanography is defined. Comparing the requirement of MGIS with that of the traditional GIS which has been developed in the terrestrial applications in the past four decades, the frame for the functions of MGIS is constructed. According to the established MGIS, some key technologies are discussed in detail with emphasis on the specialities which can distinguish the MGIS from the traditional GIS.

Structures and Characteristics of the Windy Atmospheric Boundary Layer in the South China Sea Region during Cold Surges

An observational analysis of the structures and characteristics of a windy atmospheric boundary layer during a cold air outbreak in the South China Sea region is reported in this paper. It is found that the main structures and characteristics are the same as during strong wind episodes with cold air outbreaks on land. The high frequency turbulent fluctuations （period 〈 1 min） are nearly random and isotropic with weak coherency, but the gusty wind disturbances （1 rain〈period 〈 10 min） are anisotropic with rather strong coherency. However, in the windy atmospheric boundary layer at sea, compared with that over land, there are some pronounced differences： （1） the average horizontal speed is almost independent of height, and the vertical velocity is positive in the lower marine atmospheric boundary layer; （2） the vertical flux of horizontal momentum is nearly independent of height in the low layer indicating the existence of a constant flux layer, unlike during strong wind over the land surface; （3） the kinetic energy and friction velocity of turbulent fluctuations are larger than those of gusty disturbances; （4） due to the independence of horizontal speed to height, the horizontal speed itself （not its vertical gradient used over the land surface） can be used as the key parameter to parameterize the turbulent and gusty characteristics with high accuracy.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF MARINE ECONOMY IN CHINA

China is a large marine country. Developing marine economy is an effective way to solve a series of problems with which man is faced, such as the want of natural resources, space limitation, the environmental deterioration, etc. This article analyzes the rich resources of marine biology, harbor, offshore oil and natural gas and coastal tourism resources in China and describes the developing features and regional differences of marine economy. To realize the sustainable development of marine economy in China, what we need to do are as follows: 1) to list exploiting ocean into national development strategy; 2) to realize integrated economy of sea and land; 3) to develop ocean by science and technology; 4) to perfect legal institution of marine environment: 5) to establish new idea of sea defending. KEY WORDS: marine resources: marine economy; marine industrial structure; sustainable development