Fluid Structure Interaction 2013 

7th Subrata Chakrabarti International Conference on Fluid Structure Interaction

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10 - 12 April 2013
Gran Canaria, Spain

 Overview

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The 7th International Conference on Fluid Structure Interaction took place in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, organised by the Wessex Institute of Technology and the local University. The meeting was sponsored by the Plataforma Oceanica de Canaria (PLOCAN), J M Santana Asesores, Department of Physics, Faculty of Marine Sciences and the Vice Rector for Research and Development, University of Las Palmas.

The first of the meetings in the series was held in Halkidiki (2001), followed by Cadiz (2003), A Coruña (2005), the Wessex Institute’s New Forest Campus (2007), Crete (2009) and Orlando, Florida (2011).

Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) is a scientific discipline spanning many fields of science and engineering. FSI problems are encountered in different branches of science and engineering. Due to its large potential this field is currently receiving much attention from the scientific community and the industrial sector.

The conference series is dedicated to the memory of its originator, the late Prof Subrata Chakrabarti, who was a world-renowned expert in the design and analysis of offshore structures and was involved in the development of offshore projects in many countries around the world. He was an Adjunct Professor and frequently visited the Wessex Institute of Technology where he regularly taught courses in the field. He is author of a well known book on the topic ‘Hydrodynamics of Offshore Structures” published by WIT Press (ISBN: 978-0-90545-166-4).

The conference was opened by Prof Jesus Garcia Rubioso, Head of Physics at the University of Las Palmas, who pointed out the significance of the meeting for the research and development undertaken by his faculty.

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Delegates during the conference
Prof German Rodriguez, Co-Chairman of the meeting then welcomed the delegates to the island and in particular referred to the important PLACON project, supported by the EU. He subsequently organised a technical visit which took place during the conference.

Prof Carlos A Brebbia spoke then about the work carried out at the Wessex Institute of Technology. He stressed that WIT’s objective is to collaborate with many different institutions rather than compete. It also provides important services to industry, concentrating at present on energy, aerospace and some biomedical studies. Another important function of WIT is the dissemination of knowledge, by publishing in digital and hard copy format numerous books (including conference proceedings) and journals. The growth in digital distribution has greatly increased the diffusion of this work, particularly the papers presented at WIT conferences.

Carlos finally referred to the facilities available at the WIT campus in the New Forest National Park, an area of outstanding beauty. The latest development – a sports building – has added an indoor swimming pool to the facilities as a part of the continuous improvement of the campus.

 Keynote Address

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Prof. Gudmestad receiving the Eminent Scientist Medal from Prof. Brebbia
The keynote address was given by Prof Ove Gudmestad from Stavanger University in Norway. The topic was ‘Breaking wave forces on a vertical pile’.

Ove has nearly 30 years of engineering research and project development experience in Statoil, including offshore related work in pipeline design, offshore structures and development of offshore fields. He has been actively involved on Artic technology, marine risk and seismic hazard. His international project expertise includes developments in offshore oil and gas fields in Vietnam, Russia, China and Nigeria. He is currently a Full Professor in Marine Technology at Stavanger University and Advisor to Statoil.

His education started with a Master degree in Applied Mathematics from University of Tromsø, followed by a PhD in Hydrodynamics from the University of Bergen. He also spent two years as a Visiting Researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), working under Professor Jerry J Connor, a long standing member of the Board of Directors of WIT.

At the end of his keynote address, Carlos presented Prof Gudmestad with the Eminent Scientist Medal of Wessex Institute which has been awarded to distinguished colleagues all over the world whose work has held great significance for the advance of engineering sciences. The list of 25 or so awardees so far includes, amongst others, Prof J J Connor of MIT and the late Dr Subrata Chakrabarti.

 Invited Presentations

The conference was enhanced by a series of invited presentations:

  • ‘Smoothed particle hydrodynamics applied in fluid structure interactions’
    by J C Crespo, University of Vigo, Spain
  • ‘Evaluation of wave energy transmission through a floating breakwater using the SPH method’
    by A Rueda, University of Las Palmas and Colombian Navy
  • ‘Aeroelastic studies of a cable stayed bridge in Talavera de la Reina, Spain’
    by S Hernandez, University of A Coruña, Spain
  • ‘Numerical analysis of fluid flow in a three-dimensional porous enclosure by the Boundary Element Method’
    by J Kramer Stajnko, University of Maribor, Slovenia
  • ‘Use of X-band marine radars as a remote sensing system to survey wind-generated waves’
    by J C Nieto Borge, University of Alcala, Spain
  • ‘Wind tunnel sectional tests for the identification of flutter derivatives and vortex shedding in long span bridges’
    by J A Jurado, University of A Coruña, Spain
  • ‘Assessment of flutter speed on long span bridges’
    by M Papinutti, University of Maribor, Slovenia
  • ‘Numerical investigation on vortex-induced motion of a pivoted cylindrical body in uniform flow’
    by H G Sung, Maritime and Ocean Engineering Research Institute, South Korea

 Conference Topics

The conference papers covered a series of topics and were grouped under the following headings in the book:

  • Hydrodynamics
  • Aeroelasticity
  • Computational methods
  • Vortex induced vibrations
  • Experimental studies and validation
  • Industrial applications

 Special Presentation

There was a special presentation of the book on “Bridge Aeroelasticity” published by WIT Press (ISBN: 978-1-84564-056-9) by its senior author, Professor Santiago Hernandez of the University of A Coruña, Spain. Santiago Hernandez described the contents of the book, co-authored with researchers in his group.

The book deals with long-span suspension and cable-stayed bridges which are of great current interest, as evidenced by the increasing number of such bridges being built over bays, straits and estuaries. It discusses the wind-induced phenomena as one of the main perils such structures have to stand, specifically the instability known as flutter, and describes in a detailed way the most advanced methods to evaluate bridge safety under wind flow. The work presents a methodology for analysing the flutter speed of bridges both during and after construction.

The volume is of interest to bridge design engineers and researchers in academia, in engineering design and construction companies as well as government departments.

 Excursions

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Delegates at PLOCAN
The conference programme included a technical visit to the PLOCAN Centre where the delegates were given a presentation describing the objectives of this important project.

The Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN) will provide a multi-purpose technical scientific service infrastructure composed of a series of facilities to support research, technological development and innovation in the ocean. The aim of PLOCAN is to further excellence in marine sciences and associated technology.

The platform now under construction will be located in a zone especially suited to meteorological and oceanographic studies in the confluence of the North African upwelling and the Canary Current. This is a unique region due to its biodiversity.

Delegates were able to visit the building supporting the work being carried out to complete the platform, which is still under construction, and had the opportunity to appreciate some of the numerous contributions to be undertaken by PLOCAN, including those in the field of ocean renewable energy, multiparameter large buoys, gliders to measure velocities and other important equipment.

Another technical visit was organised during the conference to ITC (Technical Institute of the Canary Islands). The delegates were received by the Scientific Director of ITC who gave a presentation outlining their activities.

The main objectives of ITC are to foster the industrial development of the Canarian region by means of research and development activities. Their principal fields of interest at present are in renewable energies, water resources, bioengineering and software development. There is particular expertise in stand alone renewable energy systems, especially wind and solar, for different applications.

The Institute is presently at the leading edge of the world development in the management and use of renewable energy sources and sea water desalination.

 Conference Dinner

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Delegates during the conference dinner
The conference dinner took place in a well known restaurant offering genuine canarian food. There the delegates had occasion to try the famous potatoes with their special sauce, a variety of Canarian cheeses, the classical corn porridge that was the staple diet of the islanders for centuries and other local specialities. The excellent fish and meat were complemented by good wines and lively company. A few speeches and toasts contributed to strengthen the links amongst the delegates who were complimentary to German Rodriguez, the local organiser, for his choice of venue.

The International Scientific Advisory Committee met over dinner to discuss how the conference could be improved and when and where to reconvene it.

 

 Subrata Chakrabarti Medal

At the end of the conference Professor Carlos A Brebbia reported the launching of the Subrata Chakrabarti Medal in honour of the late colleague, and Co-Chair of the conference.

Subrata, who was the originator of the International Conference on Fluid and Structure Interaction, was the recognised authority throughout the world in the field of hydrodynamic forces and the effects on structures. An outstanding professional engineer as well as an academic, Subrata made significant contributions to the development of offshore engineering.

He was born in Calcutta, India in 1941 and was a gold medallist in 1963 at Jadavpur University during his bachelor degree studies in Mechanical Engineering. He achieved his Masters in Mechanical Engineering in 1965 and a PhD with honours in Engineering Mechanics from the University of Colorado in 1968, after having arrived in the USA with eight dollars in his pocket. He was modest and selfless with his knowledge, particularly his enormous expertise in the field of offshore structures. In addition to his many publications (over 300), courses all over the world and his consulting work he has written a best selling book on the topic, ie ‘Hydrodynamics of Offshore Structures’, published by WIT Press (ISBN: 978-0-90545-166-4; e-ISBN: 978-1-84564-398-0).

Subrata was a frequent visitor to the Wessex Institute of Technology where he regularly taught courses on hydrodynamics and the analysis and design of offshore structures.

The Wessex Institute of Technology has established a Medal in his honour which was awarded for the first time after the conference, when the Committee had occasion to evaluate the quality of the papers and their presentation.

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Dr Ahmet Fatih
The Committee decided to give the prize to a young colleague just starting in his career. Their task was difficult in view of the high quality of the work presented at the meeting as evidenced by the contributions in the conference book.

The medal was awarded to Dr Ahmet Fatih Tabak, Associate Professor of Mechatronics Engineering at Istanbul Commerce University for his paper on ‘Experimental validation of a CFD-based resistive force coefficient set for rotating helical tails in cylindrical channels’, which utilises experiments and the way to study an original problem ie specialised swimming micro-robots which are aimed to perform minimal invasive surgery. The proposed type works with a rotating propeller, a rigid helix mimicking the propulsion of living bacteria.

Dr Tabak graduated in Mechatronics Engineering at Sabanci University in Turkey where he also completed an MSc in Electronics Engineering and Computer Sciences, before embarking on his PhD on Mechatronics. He is author of 15 or so papers, two of them in recognised International Journals and has been awarded the Gurbel Sonmez Research Award at Sabanci University.

 Closing of the Conference

Prof Carlos A Brebbia closed the conference, thanking his Co-Chairmen, Prof German Rodriguez and the others of the University of Las Palmas of Gran Canaria for their support. The meeting – Carlos stressed – was highly successful and the book included a substantial number of very original papers. Carlos encouraged the authors to prepare extended versions of their papers for publication in either the International Journal of Computational Methods and Experimental Measurements or in some cases the International Journal of Design and Nature. He also explained that WIT Press is keen to continue to increase its publication lists and encouraged the delegates to contact him if they are interested in preparing a manuscript.

Carlos ended by inviting the delegates to visit the WIT campus next time they are in the region, so that they can appreciate better the work of the Institute.

 Conference Proceedings

The proceedings of  Fluid Structure Interaction 2013 - Fluid Structure Interaction VII, 292pp (Print ISBN: 978-1-84564-700-1; eISBN: 978-1-84564-701-8) are available from WIT Press. Orders can be placed on the WIT Press web site atwww.witpress.com or by email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., telephone: +44 (0) 238 029 3223 or fax: +44 (0) 238 029 2853.

Papers from the conference will also be hosted online at the WIT eLibrary as Volume 129 of WIT Transactions on the Built Environment (ISSN: 1746-4498, Digital ISSN 1743-3509). For more details visit the WIT eLibrary athttp://library.witpress.com

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