Abstract:
This paper describes the advances on the research project DITOWEC – “Development of
an Integrated Tool for Numerical Modelling of Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Converters
Integrated in Vertical Breakwaters", whose main objective is developing an innovative integrated tool for
numerical modelling of wave propagation from offshore to nearshore, of wave-structure interaction and
of the complex nonlinear hydrodynamic and aerodynamic phenomena that occur in an OWC-WEC. Its
development is supported by experimental data from physical model tests carried out at LNEC. The tool
will directly allow the simulation of the OWC-WEC of Pico, Azores (Portugal), at prototype scale, with
real bathymetry and offshore wave climate, eliminating any problem related to scale effects that may
occur in physical modelling. This application allows the comparison of numerical results and prototype
measurements for different incident wave conditions, given that this structure has been monitored since
2005. Methodologies of the DITOWEC project and accomplishments achieved so far are herein
described, with the focus on its more relevant results.
