Proceedings of the ASME 2014 33rd International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering

OMAE2014
June 8-13, 2014, San Francisco, California, USA

OMAE2014-23716

HYDRODYNAMIC RESPONSE OF MULTIPLE FISH CAGES UNDER WAVE LOADS

1
Ke Hu Shixiao Fu
State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering,
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Shanghai, 200240 China Shanghai, 200240 China

Yuwang Xu Leixin Ma
State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai, 200240 China
Shanghai, 200240 China

Yifan Chen
Mechanical Engineering
School of Engineering, University of Kansas,
1450 Jayhawk Blvd, Lawrence, Kansas, 66045

ABSTRACT
Nowadays, marine aquaculture is playing an important role
in meeting people’s ever increasing need for sea foods high in
protein. The multiple fish cages are commonly used in large
fish farms currently. Mooring systems in these fish cages
should be strong enough to withstand extreme environmental
loads. Thus, a reliable mooring system is required in designing
safe structures. In this paper, a finite element model is built.
The floating collar is simulated by the beam element, the twine
of the net and the mooring lines are simulated by the truss
elements. The geometric nonlinearity of the net model and the
material nonlinearity of the mooring line are considered. In this
analysis, the hydrodynamic forces estimated by Morison
equations are applied to the model. The hydrodynamic response
of multiple fish cages under the wave loads by considering the
pretension of mooring line is carefully studied. The maximum
tension in mooring lines under different wave propagation
direction is also analyzed in this study.
Keywords: Multiple fish cages, Dynamic response, Mooring
system, FEM, Morison equation
INTRODUCTION
More and more countries are now seeking the food high in
protein in order to meet people’s increasing demand. With the
rapid development of aquaculture technology, the net cages are
moving into deeper ocean areas. A large number of challenges
exist in designing a type of mooring system strong enough to
1
Corresponding Author, Shixiao Fu, Email: shixiao.fu@sjtu.edu.cn
keep the safety and integrity of multiple net cages in severe sea
conditions. In order to have a better understanding about the
hydrodynamic response of net cages, many studies have
focused on this specific area of interest.
Concerning the hydrodynamic response of the fish cage
system, Colbourne et al. conducted an experiment on multiple
fish cages to compare the magnituede of mooring forces under
different kinds of wave loads[1]. Fu et al. predicted the dynamic
response of floater without net panel under regular waves based
on 3D hydroelasticity theory in frequency domain[2]. Li et al.
simulated the dynamic behavior of one net cage under irregular
wave to study the dynamic response of the fish cages[3].
Fredriksson et al. developed an FEM method to calculate a
submerged four-cage grid mooring system under both wave and
current loads[4]. Lader et al. calculated the drag forces of a
flexible net sheet in the combined effects of waves and
currents[5]. Berstad et al. employed the finite element software--
--AquaSim to calculate the mooring line forces as well as the
changes in the volume of the net cage[6], and the mooring lines
are simulated by linear elements in his study. Tsukrov et al.
modeled the mooring lines by nonlinear elastic elements to
simulate the dynamic motion of the net cage system[7]. Huang
et al. calculated a single-point-mooring cage system based on
the lumped-mass method[8]. Xu et al. calculated the maximum
tension of the mooring line when the net cages are arranged
differently in several cases[9] without taking the pretension of
the mooring lines and the geometric nonlinearity of the net into
consideration.

1 Copyright © 2014 by ASME

 In this paper, the hydrodynamic response of multiple fish
cages when pretension in the anchor lines various is
investigated. Meanwhile, the maximum tension of mooring
lines is studied when wave propagates in different directions.
NUMERICAL MODEL
Several efforts have been made to investigate the fully
integrated fish farming system. This paper presents a
numerical model----the fish farming system, where the type of
the fish cage is gravity cage. There are four cages in this
system, which is shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 The arrangement of the net cages
Description of net cage
The diameter of fish cages and the depth of nets are both
20 meters. Each net cage consists of three main parts: the
floater, the net and the bottom ring, which is shown in Fig. 2:
Fig. 2 View of fish cage
Fig. 3 The sketch of the mooring line arrangement
In this FEM model, the floating collar and the bottom ring are
simulated by the beam elements. Considering the floater is
partly immerged, the instantaneous buoyancy problem has to be
dealt with. Therefore the “buoyancy distribution” method is
adopted in modeling the floating collar[10]. The bottom ring
serves as a function in keeping the volume of the net cage. The
net is made of Nylon(PA6). The solditity of the net is 0.32. Due
to the limited capacity of the computer, the mesh has been
coarsened. The net twine is modeled by truss elements. Bottom
nets have negligible effects on the global dynamic responses of
the fish cages which have been shown in the numerical and
experimental results[11][12], so the bottom net is ignored in this
numerical model. All the properties in fish cage system are
listed in Tab. 1:
Tab.1 Properties of fish cage system
Floating collar sinker Net
Section outer diameter (m) 0.3 0.1 0.05
Section thickness (m) 0.02 - -
Elastic modules (MPa) 950 950 350
3
Density (Kg/m ) 953 2000 1120
Description of mooring system
Given the fact that the mooring system help preserve the
integrity of net cages in waves and current in the deep sea, it is
crucial to design a reliable offshore mooring system. There are
four net cages in this numerical model in all, while the mooring
system can be divided into three separate parts: the grid line,
the bridle line and the anchor line, which is shown in Fig. 3:
The bridle lines protects the net cage to withstand the sea
loads, in this design, each net cage is connected to the
submerged grid lines by the 4 bridle lines. The connection
between the net cage and the corner of the grid line could vary
from 1 to 3. In order to simplify the numerical model, only one
bridle is attached to each corner in the model which is also
referred to Xu[13]. The grid lines form a plane which is set at 4
meters below the free water surface. The grid mooring system
consists of 12 submerged and pre-tensioned grid lines.
2 Copyright © 2014 by ASME
In Fig. 4, a fully submerged floating device is attached to the
corner of the grid lines. The buoyancy forces of these devices
are 750 N. However, when studying the buoyancy force acting
on each submerged floating device located in the intersection of
the two net cages, a force of 375 N is discovered. It is due to
the fact that the buoys only bear the weight of one anchor line
in the water. Meanwhile, 9 surface piercing buoys are placed at
each connection between the bridle lines and grid lines. The
cross section of these piercing buoys is cylinder-shaped with an
area of 0.3 m2. The length of these floaters is 1 meter.
Fig. 4 Distribution of mooring system
Each anchor line forms an intersection angle of 16 degrees
with the sea floor, and they are perpendicular to their nearby
grid lines. The diameter of all the mooring lines which are
simulated by the hyperelastic material elements is 0.048m.
Polypropylene is chosen as the material of the mooring system.
The density of the polypropylene is then set to be 950kg/m3.
The density of polypropylene is lower than water. In order to
maintain enough relative weight of the mooring lines in water,
the mooring line is tied with ballast and the value of its relative
weight in the water is 3N/m, which is referred to Berstad[11].
Furthermore, the nonlinear relationship between stress and the
strain in this material is considered, which is listed in Tab. 2[14].
Tab. 2 the relationship between the stress and the strain
stress(Pa) strain
7.37E+06 0.024
1.48E+07 0.048
2.95E+07 0.092
4.42E+07 0.127
5.90E+07 0.158
7.37E+07 0.188
8.85E+07 0.217
In order to prevent the net cages from touching the grid
lines under wave loads, all the mooring lines are pretensioned.
The tension force of the bridle line and the grid line is 5KN and
10KN, respectively when they are in their equilibrium states. At
the same time, in an attempt to investigate the influence of
additional pretension of anchor lines on the whole fish farming
system, various magnitude of pretension is investigated in the
study.
All the analysis about the dynamic response of this
numerical model is made by the FEM software----
ABAQUS/standard with nonlinear features of the mooring lines
and nets considered.
BASIC THEORY
Equations of motion
Since the whole net cage is exposed to wave loads, the
dynamic equilibrium equations of the structure can be written
as:
m[ x]  c[ x]  k  x  F ext
(1)
F ext  G  fb  f w (2)
where [m] is the mass matrix, [c] is the damping matrix and
[k] is the stiffness matrix of the whole fish farm system. The
total external loads acting on the structure are represented as
Fext including three parts, which are the gravity force G, the
buoyancy force fb along with the wave forces fw.
Hydrodynamic loads
When studying the hydrodynamic performance of small scale
structure such as the floaters and the truss, the viscosity of
water cannot be neglected. Therefore Morison equation is
applied to predict the external forces, which can be expressed
as [15]:
1  
F  CD  D u  v p (u  v p )  CM  D 2u  Cm  D 2a p (3)
2 4 4
where D is the effective diameter of the beam elements and
the truss elements, u and 𝑢̇ represent velocity and
acceleration of water particles in waves. CM represents the
inertia coefficient, where CM = Cm +1, CD is the drag
coefficient. In this paper, the hyrdodynamic coeffiecients of the
floater, the twine and the mooring line CM and CD are assumed
to be 2.0 and 1.2, respectively. Nevertheless experimental
studies should be further conducted to set these values
precisely.
Geometric nonlinearity
Considering the fact that the structures such as the floating
collar, the truss and the mooring lines in this numerical model
perform large displacements in the dynamic analysis, the
geometric nonlinearities should be taken into consideration in
the finite element analysis.
The relationship between the strain and the displacement can
be expressed as:
{𝜀}𝑒 = [𝐵̅]{𝛿}𝑒 (4)
where [𝐵̅ ] is a strain matrix, and it can be expressed as:
[𝐵̅ ] = [𝐵0 ] + [𝐵𝐿 ] (5)
3 Copyright © 2014 by ASME
 where [B0 ] is a constant strain matrix, and [BL ] is the
nonlinear strain matrix related to the displacement of the node ∭ 𝑑[𝐵̅ ]𝑇 {𝜎}𝑒 𝑑𝑣 + ∭[𝐵̅ ]𝑇 𝑑 {𝜎}𝑒 𝑑𝑣 = 𝑑{𝐹}𝑒 ( 10 )
considered. 𝑉 𝑉
The relationship between the increment of stress and that of
strain can be expressed as: Eq. 10 can be rewritten as:

𝑑{𝜎}𝑒 = [𝐷]𝑑{𝜀}𝑒 (6) ([𝑘0 ] + [𝑘𝜎 ] + [𝑘𝐿 ])𝑑{𝛿}𝑒 = 𝑑{𝐹}𝑒 ( 11 )

where [D] is the constitutive matrix for the material.
Combining Eq.4, 5 and 6 can lead to Eq.7,
𝑑{𝜎}𝑒 = [𝐷]([𝐵0 ] + [𝐵𝐿 ])𝑑{𝛿}𝑒 (7)
On the other side, the equilibrium equation based on the
virtual work principle can be expressed as:
Eq. 11 is the equation serving as the basis for solving
geometric nonlinear problems. In this equation, [𝑘0 ] is a
standard linear stiffness matrix, [𝑘𝜎 ] is the initial-stress matrix
for nonlinear conditions, and [𝑘𝐿 ] is the initial displacement
matrix under large deformation. Thus, the three matrices can be
expressed as:

∭{𝜀 ∗ }𝑒𝑇 {𝜎}𝑒 𝑑𝑣 − {𝛿 ∗ }𝑒𝑇 {𝐹}𝑒 = 0 (8) [𝑘0 ] = ∭ 𝑑[𝐵0 ]𝑇 [𝐷][𝐵0 ]𝑑𝑣 ( 12 )
𝑉 𝑉
where {ε∗ }e and {σ}e is the virtual strain and stress of an
element, respectively. {δ∗ }e is the virtual nodal displacement [𝑘𝜎 ]𝑑{𝜎}𝑒 = ∭ 𝑑[𝐵̅ ]𝑇 {𝜎}𝑒 𝑑𝑣 ( 13 )
and {F}e represents the nodal forces. 𝑉
The combination of Eq. 4 and Eq. 8 can result in,
[𝐵0 ]𝑇 [𝐷][𝐵𝐿 ]
[𝑘𝐿 ] = ∭ ( ) 𝑑𝑣 ( 14 )
+[𝐵𝐿 ]𝑇 [𝐷][𝐵0 ] + [𝐵𝐿 ]𝑇 [𝐷][𝐵𝐿 ]
∭[𝐵̅ ]𝑇 {𝜎}𝑒 𝑑𝑣 − {𝐹}𝑒 = 0 (9) 𝑉
𝑉
Differentiating this equation can lead to

Comparison of models Comparison of models

with detailed mesh with applied (coarse) mesh

(b1) Deformation predicted (c2) Deformation predicted

by Moe et al. [16] by Moe et al. [16]

(a)Model test [12]

(b2) Deformation predicted (c2) Deformation predicted

in this study in this study

Fig.5 Validation and verification of the numerical model

4 Copyright © 2014 by ASME


RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Verification and Validation of the Numerical Model
Due to the large number of meshes in a full-scale net will cost
too much computation time and hardware resources, it is hard
to conduct a calculation on a model with detailed mesh. Thus,
cage A and B are selected respectively. The origin of
coordinates and number of anchor lines which are represented
by green figures are also shown in Fig. 6. Since the mooring
lines are symmetrical about the x-axis, only 7 anchor lines are
investigated in the following parts.

The average displacement in the X direction(m)

10
Pretension=0KN
the full-scale model was simplified. The hydrodynamic force, 9 Pretension=5KN
tensile stiffness, and mass in the simplified model should be Pretension=10KN
8
equivalent in the two types of models. This can be described in
7
the following equations:
6

A𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑠 = ∑ 𝐴𝑘 ( 15 ) 5

3
(EA𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 )𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑠 = ∑ 𝐸𝐾 𝐴𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛_𝑘 ( 16 )
2

M𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑠 = 𝑀 ( 17 )
And the validation is shown as Fig. 5.
As a validation, we compared our calculated geometry
deformation of the net with the one observed in the model tests
(H. Moe, 2010). Good agreements between our simulation
results and the results in model testing are found.
Displacement of the net cages under different pretension
In this analysis, the height of the wave is 5m, while its
period is 8s. The wave is assumed to be Airy wave, and it
propagates along the X-direction.
To withstand more severe sea condition, it is also necessary
to consider the influence of additional pretension on the
mooring lines. Ordinarily, the pretension of the anchor lines
result from their self-gravity when the anchor lines are
1
0
A1 A2
Fig. 7 The average displacement in the X direction
It can be seen from Fig. 7 that as additional pretension on the
anchor mooring line increases, the average displacement of
both point A1 and point A2 in the x-direction become smaller.
It is due to the fact that the anchor lines hold the bridle lines to
prevent the net cage from drifting further away. It can be found
from the figure that the displacement of point A1 and point A2
are almost the same in each case, which means that the length
of grid lines between two cages are not distinctively changed
during the dynamic movement of the net cages.
The amplitude of displacement in the X direction(m)

installed. Nevertheless, as the pretension of anchor lines varies, 2.0

Pretension=0KN
the net cage may show different dynamic response. Hence the 1.8 Pretension=5KN
Pretension=10KN
impact of the additional pretension on the anchor lines is 1.6
investigated in the three cases, which are: case 1----0KN, case 1.4
2----5KN, case 3----10KN. 1.2

1.0

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0
A1 A2

Fig.8 The amplitude displacement in the X direction

Besides, the amplitude displacement of the net cages also

Fig.6 The number anchor line’s distribution
In order to analyze the motion of the net cages under waves,
point A1 (-10, 0, 0) and A2 (30, 0, 0) on the floater of the net
deserves investigation because the motion of the floating collar
would possess an influence on the volume of the net cage. In
Fig. 8, it can be found that with the increase of the tension in
anchor lines, the amplitude of the net cages is becoming
smaller. Moreover by comparing Fig. 7 and Fig. 8, the average
displacement of the net cage is more sensitive to the pretension

5 Copyright © 2014 by ASME

of the anchor lines. Thus, if the wave height is higher, the
18000 pretension=0KN
pretension of the anchor mooring line should get larger. pretension=5KN
16000 pretension=10KN

The maximum tension(N)

7
The magnitude of motion in the Z direction(m)

Pretension=0KN 14000
Pretension=5KN
6 Pretension=10KN 12000

5 10000

4
8000

6000
3
4000
2
2000
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
0 Mooring line number
A1 A2
Fig.10 The maximum tension of anchor line

Fig.9 The magnitude of motion in the Z direction

Meanwhile, the magnitude of the motion of the two points on

the net cages in the Z direction can be observed from Fig. 9.
The two points are neither sensitive to the pretension of the
anchor mooring lines because the buoys on the corner and the
submerged floating device can provide the buoyancy of the
mooring lines. Whether the net cage drift along the direction in
which wave propagates or not, the piercing buoys always keep
the connection of the anchor mooring line and the bridle line at
the water surface. However it can also be found that the heave
motion of point A1 and point A2 are 4.55m and 4.74m in case
1, respectively, which means that the floating collar may Fig.11 The sketch of wave’s propagation
submerge below the water surface when the floating collar meet
either wave crest or wave trough because they are both less
than the wave height. Although the pretension of anchor lines
may change, the vertical displacement of these two points does
not change too much. Therefore it can be observed that the
overtopping phenomenon can occur, leading the strength design
of the fish farming systems in extreme conditions of much
importance.
Since the arrangement of mooring lines is symmetrical about
the direction of wave propagation, anchor lines NO. 1 to No. 7
are chosen to analyze the maximum tension. Their maximum
tension of the anchor lines are shown in Fig. 10. It can be seen
that as the initial tension of anchor line becomes larger, the Fig.12 The distribution of maximum tension at different wave
maximum tension of the mooring line increases simultaneously.
direction α = 0°
The maximum tension of anchor line NO. 1 is larger than all
the others, and is a little larger than that of anchor line NO. 2.
As is shown from Fig. 12 to Fig. 14, the distribution of
The effect of the wave propation direction on tensions in the maximum tension in the mooring lines (the numbers in the
mooring lines bracket) differs correspondingly with the direction of wave
propagation. When the angle between the wave propagation
Given the direction of wave propagation is not always the direction and the x-direction α = 22.5°, the maximum tension
same in reality, the maximum tension when wave propagates in occur in mooring lines NO.1 and NO.2 , which is about 11.1
different directions deserves further study. From Fig.11, it can KN, while the maximum tension becomes 10.2KN and it is
be seen that the angle α between the direction of wave found in anchor lines NO.1 and NO.4 when α = 45°. However,
propagation and the positive direction of x-axis changes in the
the maximum tension happens when α = 0°, therefore it is
following three conditions----α = 0°, α = 22.5° and α = 45°.

6 Copyright © 2014 by ASME

crucial to take this situation into account when designing strong
mooring lines.
arrange the mooring system like that in the case α = 45°
where if wave propagates in that direction frequently.
Due to the complicated phenomenon and mechanism such as
the overtopping of the floating collar and the influence of
geometric nonlinearities on the structure’s hydrodynamic
response have not been fully studied, the hydrodynamic
coefficients of the floating collar, the truss and the mooring
lines are all set at the same value in this analysis. Experimental
studies should be further conducted afterwards.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was financially supported from Natural Science

Fig.13 The distribution of maximum tension at different wave
direction α = 22.5°
Foundation of China (Grant No.51279101) as well as the
national key basic research development program (973
program) project (2013CB036103), ministry of high
technology scientific research project of the ship and the
project of "mooring position technology research of floating
structures". It is highly grateful for their support.

NOMENCLATURE

[m] Mass matrix

[c] Damping matrix
[k] Stiffness matrix
Fext Total external loads on the structure
G Gravity force
fb Buoyancy force
fw Wave force
D Effective diameter of the structure
Fig.14 The distribution of maximum tension at different wave
CD Drag coefficient
direction α = 45°
CM Inertia coefficient
{𝜀 ∗ }𝑒 Virtual strain of the element
CONCLUSIONS {𝜎}𝑒 Stress of the element
In this paper, the hydrodynamic response of multiple net
{𝛿 ∗ }𝑒 Virtual nodal displacement
cages and the maximum mooring tension under linear wave are
{F}e Nodal forces
discussed.
[𝑘0 ] Standard linear stiffness matrix
When the net cage is installed, it is vital to set the pretension
[𝑘𝜎 ] Initial-stress matrix for nonlinear conditions
of the mooring line in appropriately. Considering the fact that
[𝑘𝐿 ] Initial displacement matrix under large deformation
the pretension of the anchor lines would have an influence on
the net cages’ dynamic response, the surge and the heave
motion is thus investigated. From the analysis above, with the
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