Abstract:
A numerical model of a dual-chamber Oscillating Water Columns (OWC)
Wave Energy Converter (WEC) is built through the DualSPHysics software. This
code is based on the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) model, a Lagrangian
meshless method where particles represent the flow, interact with structures, and
exhibit large deformation with moving boundaries. A one phase approach – only
water - is chosen in order to limit the computing time, as it increases with the total
number of particles. The power take-off (PTO) of the system is modeled by the force
applied by a vertical linear spring link on a floating plate inside the chamber. The
force formula and coefficients are described, discussed, and tuned for various wave
states to optimize the model. Validations against experimental data available from
previous tests in wave flumes are performed. The floating plate heave of the
numerical model is compared with the experimental free surface elevation. The
result analyses establish the benefits and limits of DualSPHysics to model a fixed
dual-chamber OWC WEC.