Hydrodynamic characteristics of a lunate shape oscillating propulsor

Research was conducted to study the hydrodynamic efficiency of a foil with aft-swept wing tips. A potential flow based time domain panel method was formulated to predict the performance of a lunate and rectangular foil in large amplitude, unsteady motion. Skin drag was approximated and boundary layer growth and separation were also estimated. Hydrodynamic efficiency was evaluated in terms of propulsive efficiency and thrust coefficient of the foil. Results are presented for a lunate shaped planform and for a rectangular foil. Predictions show that the lunate shaped planform has a substantially higher propulsive efficiency (13% higher) than the rectangular foil under heavy load conditions when the feathering parameter is zero, throughout a range of reduced frequencies (0.2 to 1.8). Under a medium load condition, however, the rectangular foil gave a higher propulsive efficiency at reduced frequencies less than 0.5 and the same efficiency value at a reduced frequency of 1.8. For a practical range of reduced frequencies between 0.5 and 1.0, the lunate tail gave higher propulsive efficiency. The lunate planform gave a lower thrust coefficient at a heavy load and higher thrust at a medium load condition than the rectangular planform for all reduced frequencies.     

Design pressure distributions on the hull of the FLOW wave energy converter

This paper presents a procedure to calculate the design pressure distributions on the hull of a wave energy converter (WEC). Design pressures are the maximum pressure values that the device is expected to experience during its operational life time. The procedure is applied to the prototype under development by Martifer Energy (FLOW—Future Life in Ocean Waves).A boundary integral method is used to solve the hydrodynamic problem. The hydrodynamic pressures are combined with the hydrostatic ones and the internal pressures of the large ballast tanks. The first step consists of validating the numerical results of motions by comparison with measured experimental data obtained with a scaled model of the WEC. The numerical model is tuned by adjusting the damping of the device rotational motions and the equivalent damping and stiffness of the power take-off system. The pressure distributions are calculated for all irregular sea states representative of the Portuguese Pilot Zone where the prototype will be installed and a long term distribution method is used to calculate the expected maximum pressures on the hull corresponding to the 100-year return period.     

Modeling of twin-turbine systems with vertical axis tidal current turbines: Part I—Power output

Recent interest in the tidal current industry has driven development of the prototype from the stand-alone turbine to the twin-turbine system. In this paper, we develop a numerical model to systematically analyze the relationship between the power output and the configuration of a twin-turbine system. First, we present the design principle of the twin-turbine system. We then develop the numerical model for simulating the operation of the system, and validate the model by conducting towing tank experimental tests. We then use the model to predict the power output of the system. The results of this study show that the total power output of a twin-turbine system with optimal layout can be about 25% higher than two times that of a stand-alone turbine. We also discuss the hydrodynamic interaction between the two turbines under different configurations of the system. We conclude that the optimally configured counter-rotating system should be a side-by-side system, and that the optimally configured co-rotating system should have the downstream turbine partially in the wake of the upstream turbine, depending on the detailed configuration of the turbine.     

Modeling of twin-turbine systems with vertical axis tidal current turbine: Part II—torque fluctuation

We recently showed the advantage of using a numerical system to extract energy from tidal currents by developing a new twin-turbine model (Li and Calisal, 2010a). Encouraged by this result, we decided to use this model to study another important characteristic of the turbine system, torque fluctuation. This effort is summarized in this paper. The torque fluctuation is expected to reduce the fatigue life of tidal current turbines, though potentially it also may deteriorate the power quality of tidal current turbines. In this paper, after reviewing the twin-turbine model, we use it to predict the torque fluctuation of the system with the same configurations as we used to study the power output in Li and Calisal (2010a). Specifically, we investigate the torque fluctuation of twin-turbine systems with various turbine parameters (e.g., relative distance between two turbines and incoming flow angle) and operational condition (e.g., tip speed ratio). The results suggest that the torque of an optimally configured twin-turbine system fluctuates much less than that of the corresponding stand-alone turbine, under the same operating conditions. We then extensively compare the hydrodynamic interaction’s impact on the torque fluctuation and the power output of the system. We conclude that the hydrodynamic interactions pose more constructive impacts on the torque fluctuation than on the power output. The findings indicate that the optimally configured counter-rotating system should be a side-by-side system, and that the optimally configured co-rotating system should have the downstream turbine partially in the wake of the upstream turbine depending on the detailed configuration of the turbines. Furthermore, one must balance the optimal torque fluctuation against the optimal power output.     

Investigation of a method for predicting AUV derivatives

The paper addresses the problem of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) modelling and parameter estimation as a means to predict the dynamic performance of underwater vehicles and thus provide solid guidelines during their design phase. The use of analytical and semi-empirical (ASE) methods to estimate the hydrodynamic derivatives of a popular class of AUVs is discussed. A comparison is done with the results obtained by using computational fluid dynamics to evaluate the bare hull lift force distribution around a fully submerged body. An application is made to the estimation of the hydrodynamic derivatives of the MAYA AUV, an autonomous underwater vehicle developed under a joint Indian-Portuguese project. The estimates obtained were used to predict the turning diameter of the vehicle during sea trials.     

Design analysis of a truss pontoon semi-submersible concept in deep water

Truss pontoon semi-submersible (TPS) is a new offshore structure concept in industry, where a truss spar is used to create the added mass by the heave plates. In the present paper, the effect of the heave plates on the vertical motion of the floating structure is demonstrated. A TPS is analyzed by utilizing the linear diffraction theory as well as the linear part of the Morison equation. The close agreement of the analysis results with the experimental results suggests that the simplified Morison equation can be used for the present analysis without sacrificing the quality of the results. However, good engineering judgment is required for estimating the values of the hydrodynamic coefficients as well as the amount of damping introduced in the structure. It is also found that the heave plates indeed introduce large added mass and considerable damping in the system motion in the vertical direction such that the resonant oscillation becomes less of a problem. This suggests that the TSP concept may have merits as a heave-controlled floating production structure in the deepwater development.     

海洋能发电装置现场检测平台设计

随着国际社会对海洋可再生能源开发利用的关注,众多海洋能发电装置投入研发。目前我国已有相当一部分海洋能发电装置进入海试阶段。因此,在海洋能发电装置海试的过程中,需要对海洋能发电装置的发电性能进行检测。文中介绍了海洋能发电装置现场检测平台的设计,研究并设计检测方法以满足海洋能发电装置现场检测的需求。海洋能发电装置现场检测平台的设计以满足波浪能、潮流能发电装置的测试需求为主,兼顾其他形式的发电装置。该平台主要对海洋能发电装置的功率特性、电能质量特性以及电网适应性等指标进行测试,并根据海洋能发电装置的测试结果开展分析与评价。     

On the radiation and diffraction of water waves by a rectangular structure with a sidewall

A radiation and diffraction boundary value problem is investigated. It arises from the interaction of linear water waves with a freely floating rectangular structure in a semi-infinite fluid domain of finite water depth with the leeward boundary being a vertical wall. Analytical expressions for the radiated potentials and the diffracted potential are obtained by use of the method of separation of variables and the eigenfunction expansion method. The added masses and damping coefficients for the structure heaving, swaying and rolling in calm water are obtained by use of the corresponding radiated potentials and the wave excitation forces are calculated by use of the diffracted potential. To verify the correctness of the method, a boundary element method is used. A comparison of the analytical results with those obtained by the boundary element method is made and good agreement is achieved, which shows that the analytical expressions for the radiated and diffracted potentials are correct. By use of the present analytical solution, the added mass, damping coefficients, wave excitation force, together with the hydrodynamic effects of the draft, width of the structure and the clearance between the structure and the sidewall are also investigated.     

辅助风帆对船舶航行性能影响的理论研究

以日本国东京水产大学实习船“海鹰丸”作为研究对象 ,分析计算了在船舶航速一定的条件下安装辅助风帆对船舶航行性能的影响。结果表明 :安装风帆时 ,在风向角为 90°时获得功率达到最大值 ;横向漂移对船舶航行的影响较小 ;获得功率最大可达总功率的 4 4 %以上。     

Effective boundary element method for the interaction of oblique waves with long prismatic structures in water of finite depth

An effective boundary element method (BEM) is presented for the interaction between oblique waves and long prismatic structures in water of finite depth. The Green's function used here is the basic Green's function that does not satisfy any boundary condition. Therefore, the discretized elements for the computation must be placed on all the boundaries. To improve the computational efficiency and accuracy, a modified method for treatment of the open boundary conditions and a direct analytical approach for the singularity integrals in the boundary integral equation are adopted. The present BEM method is applied to the calculation of hydrodynamic coefficients and wave exciting forces for long horizontal rectangular and circular structures. The performance of the present method is demonstrated by comparisons of results with those generated by other analytical and numerical methods.