Research News

Affordable polyethylene rafts found 5 times more durable that usual bamboo ones

Polyethylene raft for oyster farming

Researchers propose using this affordable, sturdier raft than conventional rafts made from bamboo.

Credit: Osaka Metropolitan University

Amid the rising human population and pressure on food supplies, the world can’t be everyone’s oyster. But perhaps there might be more oysters to eat if an Osaka Metropolitan University-led research team’s findings mean sturdy plastic rafts will be used in their farming.

Conventional oyster farming uses bamboo rafts with additional flotation devices such as Styrofoam. Though relatively affordable, these rafts can be damaged in typhoons. The OMU-led researchers propose a polyethylene raft that keeps costs manageable but is about five times more durable than a bamboo raft.

OMU Graduate School of Engineering Associate Professor Yasunori Nihei led the team in running the numerical analysis and verifying the performance by building a test model of the polyethylene raft.

“The numerical analysis technique developed in this research is expected to be applicable not only to oysters, but also to the performance evaluation of aquaculture ponds,” Professor Nihei proclaimed. “We hope our efforts will contribute greatly to the future growth of the aquaculture industry.”

The findings were published in Ocean Engineering.

Paper information

Journal: Ocean Engineering
Title: Motion characteristics and deformation performance of highly flexible polyethylene rafts for oyster farming
DOI: 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2024.118537
Authors: Hiroki Tamura, Saika Iwamatsu, Kazuhiro Iijima, Yasunori Nihei
Published: 2 July 2024
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2024.118537

Contact

Yasunori Nihei

Graduate School of Engineering
Email: nihei[at]omu.ac.jp

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