Meeting Abstract
New energy forms are needed to reduce CO2 output and global warming. For much of the coastal United States, tidal turbines are being considered as a new form of energy. Therefore, the potential environmental consequences of installing tidal turbines must be investigated. The goal of this study is to quantify the soft tissue response to marine mammals like harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) from collision with a tidal turbine. The biomechanical properties of the seal’s skin are needed to implement a finite element model determining the extent and severity of a tidal turbine blade strike. Skin samples were collected from stranded harbor seals postmortem. Two adult seals and one pup were investigated in this study. We performed tensile tests of both the skin and blubber layers to determine tensile stiffness and tensile strength, as well as the strain rate effects. The samples were taken in different orientations (0°, 45° and 90°) to the longitudinal body axis to investigate if anisotropy is present in the tissue. Both types of tissue exhibited a large plastic region, showing non-linear behavior with the amount strain expected in a turbine collision. The blubber and skin both showed strain-rate hardening. Neither the blubber nor skin exhibited anisotropy. Consequently, the material can be modeled as isotropic, but must be modeled non-linearly and as a rate-dependent material. Results were used to create a constitutive material model in an ABAQUS finite element analysis.
