Calculating buoy response for a wave energy converter—A comparison of two computational methods and experimental results. Issue 3 (May 2017) - Sjökvist, Linnea
Abstract: When designing a wave power plant, reliable and fast simulation tools are required. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software provides high accuracy but with a very high computational cost, and in operational, moderate sea states, linear potential flow theories may be sufficient to model the hydrodynamics. In this paper, a model is built in COMSOL Multiphysics to solve for the hydrodynamic parameters of a point-absorbing wave energy device. The results are compared with a linear model where the hydrodynamical parameters are computed using WAMIT, and to experimental results from the Lysekil research site. The agreement with experimental data is good for both numerical models. Highlights: Added mass, radiation damping and exciting force are calculated using a COMSOL model. The hydrodynamic parameters are compared to parameters from WAMIT. The equations of motion for a WEC are solved to find buoy movement and line force. Force and motion are compared to experimental offshore data, showing good agreement.