Towards a unified approach for the hydrodynamic modelling of WECs: Effective linkage of non-linearity and viscous damping in potential flow models

Completed

Renewable Energy Sources(Ocean Energy)

Basic and strategic applied research

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering)

Not Cross-cutting

Dr J Spinneken
Civil and Environmental Eng
Imperial College London

Standard

EPSRC

03 October 2014

02 October 2015

12 months

£100,461

Energy

London

Newton Programme

Dr J Spinneken, Civil and Environmental Eng, Imperial College London

Project Contact, Dalian University of Technology, China

This work is undertaken in the context of the UK-China "Marine Development Feasibility Studies" call. This call was developed through a joint workshop between the UK and China research councils. As part of this workshop, four key areas were identified as critical to the development of wave and tidal energy in China. The research proposed here spans across two of these areas: "Increasing Survivability" and "Holistic Integrated Design Tools".More specifically, the aims and objectives of the present work address important questions related to "Understanding the system dynamics to increase reliability and survivability". In the context of holistic design tools, the research addresses improvements in "CFD techniques (including potential flow models) to assess fluid structure interactions".These two key elements of the present work are tightly linked, with one building upon the other. Whilst enhanced CFD techniques act as important design tools for wave energy conversion (WEC) developers, they are also urgently required to enable and understanding of WEC loading regimes. A firm understanding of loading regimes, in turn, will lead to improved design for survivability. These novel techniques are also crucial in addressing issues related to device reliability and fatigue loading. In addressing these challenges, the understanding of viscous effects and nonlinearities are central.The enhanced physical understanding of both viscous effects and nonlinearity in wave structure interactions is believed to stimulate the development of wave energy extraction in both China and the UK. In the case of China, this is hoped to reduce the high dependence on fossil resources currently imported from abroad. For the UK, the development of wave energy is an important element in meeting the long-term CO2 emission targets.The new unified model to be developed in this project will lead to a more efficient and accurate coupling method for the prediction of hydrodynamic characteristics, dynamic loadings and fatigue effects. Taken as a whole, this provides the base for the improved design of floating WECs, their survivability, and practical maintenance.

11/12/14