Simulated Kelp Testing

NAHL supports a wide variety of student and faculty research projects related to offshore aquaculture. This video shows a submerged resistance test performed in USNA's 380 FT Towing Tank for a physical model of densely grown kelp. The kelp was simulated with 178 LDPE strips, and NAHL's instrumentation was used to measure the horizontal/vertical forces acting on the model through a range of five (progressively increasing) speeds.