Test and monitoring means
Means of our network
In addition to our own sea test and monitoring resources, we rely on the infrastructure of our network.
Sea test sites
Our Institute has easy access to several test sites for testing and validating technological brics and systems at sea. These sites are operated by Fondation Open-C: Paimpol-Bréhat in the English Channel, Sainte-Anne-du-Portzic and SEM-REV in the Atlantic, and Mistral in the Mediterranean.
Test tanks and flumes
Our Institute also has access to several wave test tanks and flumes, such as those at the Ecole centrale de Nantes, EDF, Ifremer, Océanide, and Université Le Havre Normandie. These facilities are used to simulate the effects of waves and currents on offshore infrastructures.
Technical platforms for mechanical sciences
Several members of our network are equipped with technical facilities specialising in mechanical sciences. For example, the MASMECA platform at ENSTA is ideal for analysing the ageing and fatigue of mechanical structures in a marine environment. The geotechnical centrifuge at Gustave Eiffel University allows small-scale studies of the behaviour of offshore foundations and anchors. The Ifremer test bench is used to monitor the ageing of synthetic mooring lines.
Acoustic telemetry networks
The acoustic telemetry network set up by our Institute to track the movement of fish and crustacean communities is integrated into larger networks such as FISHINTEL in the English Channel and CONNECT MED for the Mediterranean.
Ecotoxicology facilities
A number of our academic partners, notably Université de Bretagne Occidentale and Université d’Aix-Marseille, have facilities dedicated to ecotoxicology. These facilities enable to characterise the hazardousness of different chemical substances to marine organisms at different trophic levels (molluscs, crustaceans, fish).
