Numerical Modelling of the Mooring Line Failure Induced Performance Changes of a Marine Fish Cage in Irregular Waves and Currents

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the performance changes resulted from a mooring line failure of a marine fish cage exposed to irregular waves and current. A numerical model based on the lumped mass method and Morison equation was extended to simulate the mooring line failure scenario. In this study, the failed resulting changes were compared with its normal counterpart in both the time domain and the frequency domain. After one upstream anchor loss, the maximum tension on the remaining anchor has increased significantly, as well as the drift distance of the rearing part (net chamber, floating collar, and tube-sinker) of the fish cage. The resulting changes can also be seen in both the wave-frequency and the low-frequency region in the spectra, including mooring tensions and body motions.