Raft Design Project

The goal of this project is to develop new shellfish aquaculture raft designs using state-of-the-art materials and techniques to create high quality rafts for the BC shellfish farming industry to enhance economic profitability and environmental sustainability. Vancouver Island University’s Centre for Shellfish Research and the BC Shellfish Growers Association together with industry members are working with Dynamic Systems Analysis (DSA) to develop these new designs. Through computer simulations, Ryan Nicoll of DSA can anticipate problems and identify successes with different raft design components and materials. Once suitable designs have been selected, the CSR will fabricate and test prototypes at the Deep Bay Field Station. A final report will be prepared including construction plans for the industry.

This image is an example of the preliminary stages in the simulations. Information provided by industry based on the current most typical raft has been used to develop a computer generated simulation of how it performs in the natural environment. Each string represents the mass and drag of a typical oyster tray stack. Once the simulation is constructed, DSA can change stresses (waves, currents etc…), loadings and construction materials to see how the raft performs. Optimal designs will then be developed and different construction materials will be tested to determine an optimum cost benefit ratio.

Further updates will be made on our PbWiki site, which can be accessed by contacting Joy Wade (Joy.Wade@VIU.ca). For specific information please contact David McCallum (David@BCSGA.ca), Joy Wade or Brian Kingzett (Brian.Kingzett@viu.ca).