Last week we began launching new prototype rafts for shellfish aquaculture which we hope will lead to increasing the productivity and sustainability of the shellfish industry. Older raft designs in use are mostly constructed from wood and coated Styrofoam (like many older docks). These can degrade with age and in extreme weather conditions may be at risk up resulting in losses of crops and creation of marine debris. In 2006 unusually large storms resulted in large losses of rafts and we have been working with the shellfish industry since to develop new designs. With assistance of the Aquaculture Innovation and Market Access Program we engaged Dynamic Systems Analysis Ltd. in Victoria to help develop new designs through advanced engineering methods and virtual prototyping.
The video below is a virtual simulation of three of our new prototypes in an extreme weather environment.
This technique has allowed us to “virtually” model and test a variety of construction materials and over 30 designs before settling on the current prototypes.
Follow the link below for a photoessay on the actual prototypes getting built. We are now going to test the variations of our prototypes at the Deep Bay Field Station research farm and then later release the plans to industry.
