Numerical Study of a Single-Point Mooring Gravity Fish Cage With Different Deformation-Suppression Methods

Abstract

Compared to the multi-point mooring fish cage, the single point mooring (SPM) fish cage can spread out the accumulation of organic matter to prevent the local environment from being overwhelmed, and reduce the manufacturing cost at the same time. Thus, it has attracted many attentions recently. In this research, different deformation-suppression methods are applied to the SPM system with a typical Norwegian fish cage aiming to reduce the cultivation volume loss. A well-validated software, FhSim, is used to conduct the full-scale numerical study. The effects of the three deformation-suppression methods (i.e. (i) adding the lower bridles, (ii) adding the frontal rigid frame, (iii) adding the trawl door) are analyzed under pure current and combined wave-current conditions. The results indicate that all the three methods can reduce the cultivation volume loss at least by 32% compared to the one with the original SPM system when the current velocity is larger than 0.5 m/s. In addition, moving the conjunction point close to the bottom ring can bring positive effect in the cultivation volume maintaining with an unnoticeable increase in the tension force. This study will provide practical advice and useful guides for the SPM fish cage design.