a b s t r a c tThis paper reviews key issues in the physical and numerical modelling of marine renewable energy systems, including wave energy devices, current turbines, and offshore wind turbines. The paper starts with an overview of the types of devices considered, and introduces some key studies in marine renewable energy modelling research. The development of new International Towing Tank Conference (ITTC) guidelines for model testing these devices is placed in the context of guidelines developed or under development by other international bodies as well as via research projects. Some particular challenges are introduced in the experimental and numerical modelling and testing of these devices, including the simulation of Power-Take-Off systems (PTOs) for physical models of all devices, approaches for numerical modelling of devices, and the correct modelling of wind load on offshore wind turbines. Finally, issues related to the uncertainty in performance prediction from model test results are discussed.
Evaluation of the response amplitude operator (RAO) function for ship wave frequency motions by means of scale model tests in regular waves is a standard procedure conducted by hydrodynamic model testing institutions. The resulting RAO function allows for evaluating sufficiently reliable seakeeping predictions for low to moderate sea states. However, for standard hull forms, correct prediction of roll motion in irregular wave (and also in regular waves different than these used in the experiment) on the basis of RAO function presents a substantial challenge due to considerable contribution of viscous damping to roll response. In other words, the RAO values depend strongly on the amplitude of the waves used in the experiment, so the final prediction requires careful application of relevant correction of RAO, dependent on the actual significant wave height, for which the prediction is computed. Thus, in order to collect complete data for ship roll prediction, the roll decay test is usually also required. Additional drawback of evaluating the seakeeping prediction on the basis of RAO is the fact that the experiment in regular waves is quite time-consuming, which refers to the experiment itself as well as to the processing. The following paper presents a proposal of the alternative method for experimental evaluation of response amplitude operator of roll motion in beam waves, consisting in exposing the ship model to irregular wave characterized by white noise spectrum, i.e. the spectrum of uniform energy density. In theory, RAO function is equivalent to the square root of the spectrum of the response to white noise wave. The results of experiments in white noise waves were verified on the basis of the results of comprehensive experiments conducted in usual way. Additionally, the effect of non-linearity of viscous damping was widely studied by comparing the calibrated RAO-based predictions with actual response to irregular waves of different heights. As a result, a method for including the non-linear effects in prediction based on white noise was proposed. It was proved that the proposed method is capable of providing equally valuable information in significantly shorter time.
The paper presents a proposal for a formalised approach to hull shape optimisation with respect to total resistance, by fine-tuning longitudinal volume distribution. An algorithm for automated modification of the hull is presented, allowing for varying the sectional area distribution with a negligible influence on the resulting displacement. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver STAR-CCM+ and computer computer-aided design (CAD) software NX were used to search the optimal volume distribution of selected parent shapes, with respect to total resistance. The bow part and the aft part were optimised separately. The resulting resistances of the selected optimal shapes were then verified by means of scale model tests, realised in the towing tank at the Maritime Advanced Research Centre (CTO) S.A. A noticeable gain in total resistance was achieved and confirmed by experimental tests. The proposed approach seems to be a promising method for relatively quick parametric optimisation of the designed hull shapes; it is also applicable for generic CFD optimisation studies.
The possibly accurate numerical prediction of the detailed structure of vortices shed from the tips of hydrofoils is an important element of the design process of marine propellers. The concentrated tip vortices are responsible for the propeller cavitation erosion and acoustic emission. The purpose of the project described in this paper was to develop the numerical method for prediction of the tip vortex structure. In the course of the project the numerical calculations were confronted with the results of experimental measurements. This led to creation of the specific method of construction of the computational grid and to selection of the optimum turbulence model. As a result the reliable method for the accurate numerical prediction of the concentrated tip vortices for different hydrofoil geometry and flow conditions has been developed and validated. This method enables elimination of the unfavourable phenomena related to the tip vortices in the course of the propeller design calculations.
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