Our group is trying to develop a system of deep sea mining for exploiting manganese nodule, cobalt-rich crust, and hydrothermal deposit distributed on sea floor. In particular, our research focuses on the dynamics of very long cables used for transporting resources from sea floor to surface.
Numerical simulation for the landing of an underwater cable on sea bottom with a depth of 1200 m.
If we can realize local production and local consumption of energy in underwater, it substantially contributes to carrying out wider three-dimensional exploration in the sea and supplying the energy to devices operating in deep sea for getting resources. Our group thus aims to create a renewable energy extraction system that can be used in deep sea.
Vortex induced vibration (VIV) is a phenomenon which occurs if a bluff body is subject to fluid flows. It sometimes causes collapse and fatigue accumulation of long structures such as riser pipe installed in deep sea region. Clarifying the dynamics of the VIV is requested to adequately design such structures. We thus are tackling this topic in a variety of approaches including nonlinear vibration theory, experiment, and numerical simulation.
“Secure water resource!” It is the most important social demand in this century. Our research group is attempting to response it from the standpoint of ocean engineering. Seawater desalination is the promising way to create potable water. The ocean is filled with the seawater and other natural phenomena that can be utilized for desalination processes. Our group is designing a novel system of the seawater desalination thermodynamically optimized and examining it experimentally and theoretically.
