CFD investigation of pitch-type wave energy converter-rotor based on RANS simulations

ABSTRACT

The hydrodynamic performance of wave energy converter (WEC)-rotors is studied with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) by using the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations. A thorough sensitivity analysis, which affects the solution accuracy, is performed, and the pros and cons associated with the influential parameters are discussed. In addition, the CFD results are validated against experimental data. Initially, the effectiveness of wave generation and absorption is tested by conducting a long-term simulations, and the accuracy of the simulation is assessed by comparing the results with those obtained using the fifth-order Stokes wave theory. The numerically simulated pitch response of the WEC-rotor remains steady for several periods, and the predicted results agree well with the experimental data. Finally, the selected settings are applied to investigate the prototype WEC-rotor along with the three-dimensional linear potential flow theory in the cases without and with power take-off (PTO) damping moment.

KEYWORDS:

• WEC-rotor
• CFD
• time domain simulations
• sensitivity analysis
• PTO damping moment

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) and the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea (No. 20163010071690). This research was also supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2017R1D1A1B03032694)

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Sunny Kumar Poguluri http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2081-9673

Haeng Sik Ko http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1744-8878

Yoon Hyeok Bae http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5198-4519

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning [grant number 20163010071690]; National Research Foundation of Korea [grant number NRF-2017R1D1A1B03032694].