• About
  • Top Stories
  • Topics

    Green Energy News

    Solar News
    Hydrogen News
    Nuclear News
    Wind News
    Hydropower News

    Transportation News

    Electric Vehicle (EV) News
    Fuel Cell News
    Aviation News
    Public Transit News
    Commercial / Shipping News

    Sustainable Agriculture News

    Biomass Energy News
    Biofuel News
    Agtech News

    Utility News

    Smart Meter News
    Energy Storage News
    Demand Response News

    Environment News

    Recycling News
    Water News
    Pollution News

    Smart Cities News

    Energy Efficiency News
    Internet of Things (IoT) News

    Climate News

    Decarbonization News
    Climate Tech News

    Green Tech Innovation News

    Robotics News
    Nanotech News
    Batteries

  • Contact
No Results
View all Results
  • About
  • Top Stories
  • Topics

    Green Energy News

    Solar News
    Hydrogen News
    Nuclear News
    Wind News
    Hydropower News

    Transportation News

    Electric Vehicle (EV) News
    Fuel Cell News
    Aviation News
    Public Transit News
    Commercial / Shipping News

    Sustainable Agriculture News

    Biomass Energy News
    Biofuel News
    Agtech News

    Utility News

    Smart Meter News
    Energy Storage News
    Demand Response News

    Environment News

    Recycling News
    Water News
    Pollution News

    Smart Cities News

    Energy Efficiency News
    Internet of Things (IoT) News

    Climate News

    Decarbonization News
    Climate Tech News

    Green Tech Innovation News

    Robotics News
    Nanotech News
    Batteries

  • Contact
No Results
View all Results
Home Green Energy News

Purdue researchers look to shrimp for inspiration on floating wind turbine anchors

Katie Pyzyk by Katie Pyzyk
June 16, 2020
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Centered author Katie Pyzyk is on vacation. Today’s newsletter features reporting by Kari Lydersen and was written and compiled by Dan Haugen.

A team of researchers at Indiana’s Purdue University is working with clean energy startups on developing 3D-printed anchors for floating offshore wind turbines. The design is inspired by the surprising resilience of arthropod shells such as those from crabs, shrimp and lobsters. More after today’s headlines…

Today’s headlines:

🌡️  EFFICIENCY: University of Michigan researchers have developed an autonomous HVAC system they say could provide more comfort with less energy and completely do away with wall-mounted thermostats. Their study is published in the July issue of Building and Environment.

💪  RESILIENCY: Cleantech Open continues a series of free webinars Wednesday to help cleantech entrepreneurs navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. The session starts at 1 p.m. Central and will feature Michael Eckhardt of the Chasm Institute and Andrew Green of Broad Reach Growth.

🏢  CAREERS: Cleveland, Ohio, power management company Eaton Corp. has been named one of the top employers by Women Engineer, a career-guidance and recruitment magazine for women in engineering, computer science and information technology, the Cleveland Business Journal reports.

***SPONSORED LINK: Coping and Building Better in This Moment is the first in a summer series of town hall conversations from Elevate Energy. Register on Eventbrite for the June 18, 4-5 p.m. event and join the discussion.***

Now, back to those arthropod-inspired wind turbine anchors…

THE CHALLENGE: Floating turbines could greatly expand the scope of offshore wind, generating power more efficiently where winds are stronger, and where turbines are less visible from land. Anchors to secure floating turbines to the seafloor are typically made from steel, which costs a lot and can only be manufactured in places with well-established steel fabrication supply chains.

THE INNOVATION: A team of researchers at Purdue is experimenting with using 3D printing to create anchors made from multiple thin layers with a honeycomb or similar pattern. Stacked together, the layers create a structure similar to the shell of an arthropod — like the shrimp, crab or lobster — whose fragile material is surprisingly resilient because the structure prevents cracks from spreading.

“It’s a pattern that nature found that is very efficient for improving the mechanical properties for what otherwise is a very brittle material” — concrete, said Purdue civil engineering professor Pablo Zavattieri.

The precision and flexibility available with 3D printing means the structure can be designed so the weaknesses inherent in the connection points between layers essentially become strengths, the researchers explained. Cracks are dispersed so that the energy causing them dissipates and fissures stop.

THE BACKSTORY: Rick Damiani, founder and principal of the Floating Wind Technology Company, one of the startups involved in the project, previously worked at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory with Jason Cotrell, CEO of RCAM Technologies, the startup working with Purdue on the 3D printing portion of the project. Damiani with NREL colleagues developed a floating offshore wind platform called SpiderFLOAT unveiled last year.

Photo: Researchers Jan Olek, Jeffrey Youngblood, Reza Moini and Pablo Zavattieri

THE POTENTIAL: The anchor would gently meld into the seafloor by harnessing water pressure and a suction effect, avoiding the ecological impact and cost of driving piles into the seafloor for fixed wind turbines. The anchor would also be less ecologically disruptive than other floating turbine anchors, the researchers said.

“The preliminary work is very encouraging,” explained Jan Olek, Purdue’s James H. and Carol H. Cure Professor of Civil Engineering. “We’re seeing that we can redirect propagation of the cracks … and if the interfaces are organized in space in such a way that it’s a convoluted path for the crack to follow, it takes more energy to actually form the crack.”

THE FUTURE: The team noted that 3D printing is also being explored for onshore wind turbines, offshore oil and gas infrastructure, and buildings more generally. They developed the printing technique proposed for the anchors first using cement paste, and they are now in the process of scaling up to concrete, which is a mixture of cement mortar and coarse aggregates.

There is still a long way to go before the anchors may actually be launched in the ocean, including testing for stability and other attributes in the lab, then large-scale testing in the environment.

You can read more about the project at the Energy News Network.

Help us cover how Midwest startups and growing companies are helping to fight climate change and other daunting problems. Send news tips, press releases, and feedback to katie@centered.tech or connect on Twitter @centereddottech.

Centered is your cleantech news source for the Midwest

Subscribe to receive free weekday news updates



    Previous Post

    Accelerator grant offers a jolt to Michigan company’s battery innovation

    Next Post

    Chicago startup seeks more efficient screens — and more diverse team

    Related News

    The University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Credit: Steve Shupe / Creative Commons

    Wisconsin utility and university unite on agrivoltaics project

    by Katie Pyzyk
    April 20, 2022
    0

    Wisconsin utility Alliant Energy is partnering with the University of Wisconsin-Madison to create an agrivoltaic research project on campus.

    Leaders from the University of Wisconsin visited the existing dry anaerobic digester this month. An addition to the first-of-its-kind biodigester will equip the system to generate heat in addition to power.

    Trailblazing waste-to-energy system will soon also heat Wisconsin campus

    by Katie Pyzyk
    March 25, 2022
    0

    An addition to the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh's first-of-its-kind biodigester will equip the system to generate heat in addition to power.

    Next Post

    Chicago startup seeks more efficient screens — and more diverse team

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Centered is your cleantech news source for the Midwest

    Subscribe to receive free weekday news updates



      Trending News

      The tower uses sensors and artificial intelligence to collect and analyze data on environmental conditions for a variety of research projects.

      Ohio airport tower offers ‘unique opportunity’ to measure real-time environmental data

      September 8, 2021
      An aerial view of the Argonne National Laboratory.

      Scientists study efficient methods to recover metals from waste

      March 26, 2021
      Toledo solar startup wins funding to test panels backed with lighter material

      Toledo solar startup wins funding to test panels backed with lighter material

      August 12, 2020

      Popular Topics

      • Green Tech Innovation News
      • Transportation News
      • Green Energy News
      • Environment News
      • Electric Vehicle (EV) News
      • Water News
      • Batteries
      • Sustainable Agriculture News
      • Solar News
      • Energy Efficiency
      • Climate News
      • Smart Cities News
      • Agtech News
      • Decarbonization News
      • Recycling News
      • Utility News
      • Hydrogen News
      • Wind News
      • Biofuel News
      • Nanotech News
      • Electrical Grid News
      • Aviation News
      • Biomass Energy News
      • Robotics News
      • Energy Storage News
      • Pollution News
      • Nuclear News
      • Commercial / Shipping News
      • Climate Tech News
      • Hydropower News
      • Fuel Cell News
      • Smart Meter News
      • Internet of Things (IoT) News
      Centered



      © 2022 Centered. All Rights Reserved.

      Centered is a publication of the Energy News Network, in partnership with the Illinois Science and Energy Innovation Foundation.

      • Privacy
      • Terms of Use
      No Results
      View all Results
      • About
      • Top Stories
      • Topics
        • Green Energy News
        • Transportation News
        • Sustainable Agriculture News
        • Electrical Grid News
        • Environment News
        • Smart Cities News
        • Climate News
        • Green Tech Innovation News
      • Contact

      Centered. All Rights Reserved.

      Centered is your cleantech news source for the Midwest

      Subscribe to receive a free daily roundup of underreported technology stories from around the region.



        Contact Us