Marine & Ocean Engineering

Highly specialised requests are first checked for feasibility from this information. Please do not send confidential data through the public form; describe it first and agree secure transfer afterwards.

1. 01Enquiry and requirement assessment
2. 02Technical scoping and proposal
3. 03Execution
4. 04Quality review and delivery, with an agreed round of revisions

Read the full project workflow.

In depth: how the work is done

1. Hydrodynamic and CFD analysis

   Potential-flow methods such as panel codes predict wave loads and motions efficiently for many floating bodies, but neglect viscosity. CFD captures viscous effects, green-water and slamming at higher cost. Mesh resolution near the free surface, time-step choice and turbulence modelling influence results. We recommend verification and validation against model-test data and discussion of scale effects.

2. Wave-load and motion concepts

   Linear wave theory and response amplitude operators describe motions in regular waves; spectral methods combine them with sea-state spectra for irregular waves. Nonlinear effects, including drift forces, slow-drift motion and extreme waves, require time-domain methods. Mooring and riser dynamics add further coupling. We outline assumptions and when linear methods become inadequate.

3. Structural response analysis

   Hull girders, offshore jackets and floating structures experience wave-induced loads, fatigue and corrosion. Finite element analysis with hydrodynamic load mapping predicts stress. Fatigue assessment uses S-N curves and spectral or rainflow approaches with substantial uncertainty in loads and detail geometry. Corrosion and marine growth change loads and capacity over time.

4. Statistical analysis of ocean data

   Metocean data comprise buoy measurements, hindcasts and satellite altimetry. Joint distributions of wave height, period and direction, extreme-value analysis, persistence statistics and scatter diagrams support design and operations studies. Data length limits extrapolation, and non-stationarity from climate variability should be discussed. Uncertainty in return values is reported with confidence intervals.

5. Ocean renewable energy

   Wave, tidal and offshore wind devices require resource assessment, power-performance modelling and survivability analysis. Tidal resources depend on bathymetry and flow, and arrays interact. Studies should use validated resource data and consider environmental effects. Economic claims require clear assumptions about availability and cost.

6. Model testing and scaling

   Physical model tests use Froude scaling, which cannot also match Reynolds number, creating scale effects for viscous phenomena. Instrumentation uncertainty, tank wall effects and wave calibration affect results. We support planning and analysis of tests and reporting of uncertainty.

7. Environmental conditions and operability

   Beyond extreme loads, operability studies ask how often a vessel or platform can perform its task, such as crane operations or personnel transfer, given wave and wind limits. Persistence statistics from long wave records give the expected waiting time for weather windows. Seasonal variation and climate variability affect these results. Presenting operability as a function of limiting sea state allows readers to apply the results to their own criteria.

8. Corrosion, fatigue and ageing in marine structures

   Marine structures degrade through corrosion, fouling and fatigue crack growth. Research on these topics combines laboratory tests, inspection data and probabilistic models. Inspection results update predictions through Bayesian methods, supporting decisions about maintenance. Reports should state the assumed corrosion rates and their basis and avoid presenting deterministic life estimates when uncertainty is large.

9. Reporting numerical hydrodynamic studies

   A hydrodynamic study should report mesh or panel counts, time steps, domain size, boundary conditions, wave generation and absorption methods and the convergence tests performed. Wave quality in the numerical tank, compared with the target spectrum, is documented before structures are inserted. These details let reviewers judge whether differences between configurations reflect physics or numerical settings.

Common pitfalls this service helps avoid

• Using linear theory in extreme conditions. Nonlinear wave effects change loads significantly.
• Ignoring scale effects. Viscous forces do not scale with Froude similarity.
• Extrapolating short wave records to long return periods. Uncertainty in extremes is large.
• Neglecting corrosion and marine growth. Both change structural capacity and hydrodynamic loads over time.

What good reporting looks like

A marine engineering report describes the structure or vessel, the environmental data and statistics, the hydrodynamic and structural models with verification, the load cases, the results with uncertainty, comparison with model tests where available and limitations. It does not provide classification, certification or safety approval for vessels or offshore structures, which are issued by classification societies and regulators.

An illustrative scenario

Hypothetical example written for explanation. It is not a client case, a result or a testimonial.

Suppose a researcher estimates the extreme heave motion of a floating platform. A frequency-domain analysis with linear transfer functions gives one estimate, while a time-domain analysis with nonlinear effects gives a larger extreme. Return values from fifteen years of wave data have wide confidence intervals. The report presents the range, compares with available model-test results and states that mooring nonlinearity was simplified.

Questions to settle before you begin

• Is linear analysis adequate for my sea states?
• How long is my wave record relative to the return period?
• What scale effects affect my model tests?
• How do I model corrosion over life?
• Which approvals would the real structure need?

Key terms

Response amplitude operator

The ratio of response amplitude to wave amplitude versus frequency.

Significant wave height

A statistical measure of wave height in a sea state.

Froude scaling

Model scaling that preserves the ratio of inertial to gravity forces.

Metocean

Meteorological and oceanographic conditions.

Rainflow counting

A method for counting stress cycles for fatigue.

Working together on Specialised Applied Sciences projects

Specialised applied-science engagements start with the field-specific question, data and methods, and with an honest check of whether the necessary domain expertise is available for your topic. We ask for protocols, datasets, instrument descriptions and relevant literature. Where a request is highly specialised, feasibility is confirmed before a proposal is issued. Analyses are documented and reproducible, results are reported with uncertainty, and any interpretation beyond the data is labelled. The service does not provide clinical, regulatory or safety advice.

Few projects need a single service in isolation. These are the services most often combined with this one.

• CFD Simulation Services

  Computational fluid dynamics studies of internal and external flows, thermal effects and mixing, built on an explicit statement of physics, boundary conditions, turbulence treatment and validation basis.

• Multiphase Flow Simulation

  Simulation of flows with more than one phase, such as gas-liquid, liquid-liquid and particle-laden systems, where model choice (Eulerian, Lagrangian, interface tracking) strongly shapes the result.

• Finite Element Analysis (FEA)

  Finite element modelling of structures and components for stress, deformation, thermal and dynamic behaviour, with attention to meshing, element choice, boundary conditions and verification against hand calculations or tests.

• Renewable Energy Research

  Research support on solar, wind, bioenergy and other renewables: resource assessment, performance modelling, system sizing and techno-economic and environmental evaluation.