It is shown that the lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE) for a lattice gas provides a viable numerical method for the study of three-dimensional flows in complex geometries. Numerical results for low Reynolds number flows in a three-dimensional random medium are reported. The Darcy's law is recovered and a preliminary estimation of the permeability presented.

No abstract

The results of numerical simulations of the lattice-Boltzmann equation in three-dimensional porous geometries constructed by the random positioning of penetrable spheres of equal radii are presented. Numerical calculations of the permeability are compared with previously established rigorous variational upper bounds. The numerical calculations approach the variational bounds from below at low solid fractions and are always within one order of magnitude of the best upper bound at high solid fractions ranging up to 0.98. At solid fractions less than 0.2 the calculated permeabilities compare well with the predictions of Brinkman’s effective-medium theory, whereas at higher solid fractions a good fit is obtained with a Kozeny–Carman equation.

This work investigates wave reflection and loading on a generalised Oscillating Water Column (OWC) wave energy converter by means of large scale (approximately 1:5-1:9) experiments in the Grosse Wellenkanal (GWK), in which variation of both still water depth and orifice (PTO) dimension are investigated under random waves. The model set-up, calibration methodology, reflection analyses and loadings acting on the OWC are reported.On the basis of wave reflection analysis, the optimum orifice is defined as that restriction which causes the smallest reflection coefficient and thus the greatest wave energy extraction. Pressures on the front wall, rear wall and chamber ceiling are measured. Maximum pressures on the vertical walls, and resulting integrated forces, are compared with available formulations for impulsive loading prediction, which showed significant underestimation for The present study demonstrates that a OWC structure can serve as a wave absorber for reducing wave reflection. Thus it can be integrated in vertical wall breakwaters, in place of other perforated low reflection alternatives. The possibility to convert air kinetic into electric energy, by means of a turbine, may give an additional benefit. Thus the installation of such kind of energy converters becomes interesting also in low energy seas.

Abstract:The Overtopping BReakwaterfor Energy Conversion (OBREC) is an overtopping wave energy converter, totally embedded in traditional rubble mound breakwaters. The device consists of a reinforced concrete front reservoir designed with the aim of capturing the wave overtopping in order to produce electricity. The energy is extracted through low head turbines, using the difference between the water levels in the reservoir and the sea water level. This paper analyzes the OBREC hydraulic performances based on physical 2D model tests carried out at Aalborg University (DK). The analysis of the results has led to an improvement in the overall knowledge of the device behavior, completing the main observations from the complementary tests campaign carried out in 2012 in the same wave flume. New prediction formula are presented for wave reflection, the overtopping rate inside the front reservoir and at the rear side of the structure. Such methods have been used to design the first OBREC prototype breakwater in operation since January 2016 at Naples Harbor (Italy).

Numerical simulations of wall-bounded acceleration-skewed oscillatory flows are here presented. The relevance of this type of boundary layer arises in connection with coastal hydrodynamics and sediment transport, as it is generated at the bottom of sea waves in shallow water. Because of the acceleration skewness, the bed shear stress during the onshore half-cycle is larger than in the offshore half-cycle. The asymmetry in the bed shear stress increases with increasing acceleration skewness, while an increase of the Reynolds number from the laminar regime causes the asymmetry first to decrease and then increase. Low- and high-speed streaks of fluid elongated in the streamwise direction emerge near the wall, shortly after the beginning of each half-cycle, at a phase that depends on the flow parameters. Such flow structures strengthen during the first part of the accelerating phase, without causing a significant deviation of the streamwise wall shear stress from the laminar values. Before the occurrence of the peak of the free stream velocity, the low-speed streaks break down into small turbulent structures causing a large increase in wall shear stress. The ratio of the root-mean-square (r.m.s.) of the fluctuations to the mean value (relative intensity) of the wall shear stress is approximately 0.4 throughout a relatively wide interval of the flow cycle that begins when breaking down of the streaks has occurred in the entire fluid domain. The acceleration skewness and the Reynolds number determine the phase at which this time interval begins. Both the skewness and the flatness coefficients of the streamwise wall shear stress are large when elongated streaks are present, while values of approximately 1.1 and 5.4 respectively occur just after breaking has occurred. The trend of both the relative intensity and the flatness of the spanwise wall shear stress are qualitatively similar to those of the wall shear in the streamwise direction. As a result of the acceleration skewness, the period-averaged Reynolds stress does not vanish. Consequently, an offshore directed steady streaming is generated which persists into the irrotational region.

No abstract

[1] The hydrodynamics generated by a regular wave field perpendicularly superimposed to a steady current is investigated by means of laboratory experiments. The flow structure is analyzed by measuring the velocity profiles using a micro Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter. Three cases are considered: current only, waves only and waves plus current. Different bottom roughnesses are used, and the apparent roughness k s is estimated for each condition. In the presence of a small roughness, the superposition of the waves on the current causes an increase of the current velocities close to the bottom, thus generating a decrease of the apparent roughness with respect to the case of the current only. On the other hand, when a large bottom roughness is present, the waves force a decrease of the current velocity close to the bottom and, in turn, an increase of the apparent bottom roughness. Such a behavior seems related not only to the roughness but also to the flow regime (i.e., laminar or turbulent) within the wave bottom boundary layer.