Facilities

THOR built and now owns and operates its own hydrodynamic testing facilities that have unique capabilities not found in other model testing facilities, ship model basins, wave tanks, water flumes or other hydrodynamic testing facilities. THOR's recirculating ocean current flume (ROC-Flume) has a test section eight feet deep and four feet wide (8'H x 4'W) with an upstream motor thrust array of 32 (8x4) individually controlled/programmable submerged propeller driven electric motors. A series of flow straightening vanes located between the motor array and the test section removes vorticity from the flow field. With this unique water flume configuration, a myriad of programmable time variant inverse velocity sheer profile (slower speed with deeper depth) water current speeds can be established in the test section that mimic real world ocean current flow behavior. Unlike towing a model through a body of water in a test basin or a single motor driven water flume, both of which produce a uniform water current speed at any depth, the ROC-Flume can tailor the water speed vs. water depth of the flow field and change this condition to simulate changes in water speeds at any depth. Simulation of this sheared water flow behavior, which replicates actual ocean current flow behavior, is an important step towards optimizing devices that will routinely operate and generate power in such a water flow environment. 

Additionally, the motor thruster array can be 'pulsed' at randon time interval and thrust magnitudes above and below a certain mean speed to simulate varying turbulent flow conditions that might be encountered in real world conditions. Understanding how a device responds and behaves when subjected to turbulent flow is likewise an important step towards optimizing devices that will routinely operate and generate power in such a water flow environment. 

Partial funding for the construciton of the ROC-Flume was provided by the US Department of Energy's Wind & Water Power Program.