The design of wave energy converters should rely on numerical models that are able to estimate accurately the dynamics and loads in extreme wave conditions. A high-fidelity CFD model of a 1:30 scale point-absorber is developed and validated on experimental data. This work constitutes beyond the state-of-the-art validation study as the system is subjected to 50-year return period waves. Additionally, a new methodology that addresses the well-known challenge in CFD codes of mesh deformation is successfully applied and validated. The CFD model is evaluated in different conditions: wave-only, free decay, and wave–structure interaction. The results show that the extreme waves and the experimental setup of the wave energy converter are simulated within an accuracy of 2%. The developed high-fidelity model is able to capture the motion of the system and the force in the mooring line under extreme waves with satisfactory accuracy. The deviation between the numerical and corresponding experimental RAOs is lower than 7% for waves with smaller steepness. In higher waves, the deviation increases up to 10% due to the inevitable wave reflections and complex dynamics. The pitch motion presents a larger deviation, however, the pitch is of secondary importance for a point-absorber wave energy converter.
Physical wave basin tests with a focus on uncertainty estimation have been conducted on a sphere subjected to wave loads at Aalborg University as part of the effort of the OES Wave Energy Converters Modeling Verification and Validation (formerly, OES Task 10) working group to increase credibility of numerical modeling of WECs. The tests are referred to as the Kramer Sphere Cases, and the present note is dealing with wave excitation force tests on a fixed model. The present note is including details to facilitate CFD models which replicate the physical setup in detail.
Accurate prediction of wave transformation is key in the design of coastal and nearshore structures which typically depends on numerical models. Turbulent and rotational effects call for the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solvers of which a large range of formulations including free surface treatments exists. Physical wave flume tests of wave propagation over a submerged bar with various levels of nonlinearity, regularity, and wave-breaking, dedicated to numerical model benchmarking or validation, were carried out in the Ocean and Coastal Engineering Laboratory of Aalborg University. Three fundamentally different CFD models each widespread within their category are benchmarked against the experimental data. The CFD models are based on (i) the Volume of Fluid (VoF) based interFoam solver of OpenFOAM, (ii) the sigma-transformation solver of MIKE 3 Waves Model FM, and (iii) the weakly compressible delta-SPH solver of DualSPHysics. Accuracy of the numerical models is assessed from surface elevation time series, evaluation metrics (averaged errors on surface elevations, amplitudes, phases, and wave set-up), and spectral analyzes to calculate the amplitude and phase contents of primary and higher-order components along the wave flume. Applicability is assessed from computational costs and ease-of-use factors such as the effort to configure the numerical models and achieve convergence. In general, the numerical models have high correlation to the physical tests and are as such suitable to model complex wave transformation with an accuracy sufficient for most coastal engineering applications. The VoF model performs more accurately under the turbulent conditions of breaking waves, increasing its relative accuracy in the prediction of downwave surface elevation. The sigma transformation model has simulation times one to two orders of magnitude lower than those of the VoF and SPH models.