Abstract:In the present paper, we investigate the feasibility of wave electricity production in Italian seas by the deployment of the Seabased wave energy converter (WEC). A numerical model of the coupled buoy-generator system is presented, which simulates the behavior of the wave energy converter under regular waves of different wave heights and periods. The hydrodynamic forces, including excitation force, radiation impedance and hydrostatic force, are calculated by linear potential wave theory, and an analytical model is used for the linear generator. Two buoys of different radii are considered to explore the effect of buoy dimension on energy conversion and device efficiency. The power output is maximized by adding a submerged object to the floating buoy, in order to bring the system into resonance with the typical wave frequencies of the sites. The simulation results show a very good agreement with the published data on the Seabased WEC. The model is used to estimate energy production at eight Italian offshore locations. The results indicate that the degree of utilization of the device is higher than 20% at the two most energetic Italian sites (Alghero and Mazara del Vallo) and that it can be considerably increased if the floating body is connected to a submerged object, thanks to the resonant behavior of the WEC. In OPEN ACCESSEnergies 2013, 6 3034 this case, the degree of utilization of the device would be higher than 40% at most of the study sites, with the highest value at Mazara del Vallo. The work enlarges the perspective, to be confirmed by experimental tests and more accurate numerical modeling, on clean electric power production from ocean waves in the Italian seas.

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Contemporary centrifugal continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) incorporate dynamic speed modulation algorithms. Hemocompatibility of these periodic unsteady pump operating conditions has been only partially explored. We evaluated whether speed modulation induces flow alterations associated with detrimental prothrombotic effects. For this aim, we evaluated the thrombogenic profile of the Heart-Ware ventricular assist device (HVAD) Lavare Cycle (LC) and HeartMate3 (HM3) artificial pulse (AP) via comprehensive numerical evaluation of (i) pump washout, (ii) stagnation zones, (iii) shear stress regimens, and (iv) modeling of platelet activation status via the platelet activity state (PAS) model. Data were compared between different simulated operating scenarios, including: (i) constant rotational speed and pump pressure head, used as reference; (ii) unsteady pump pressure head as induced by cardiac pulsatility; and (iii) unsteady rotor speed modulation of the LC (HVAD) and AP (HM3). Our results show that pump washout did not improve across the different simulated scenarios in neither the HVAD nor the HM3. The LC reduced but did not eliminate flow stagnation (-57%) and did not impact metrics of HVAD platelet activation (median PAS: +0.4%). The AP reduced HM3 flow stagnation by up to 91% but increased prothrombotic shear stress and simulated platelet activation (median PAS: +124%). Our study advances understanding of the pathogenesis of LVAD thrombosis, suggesting mechanistic implications of rotor speed modulation. Our data provide rationale criteria for the future design optimization of next generation LVADs to further reduce hemocompatibility-related adverse events.

In this study, we investigate the effect of two key\ud uncertainty sources in one-dimensional (1D) water level calculations:\ud the roughness coefficient and the upstream discharge.\ud The work shows how these two uncertainties, separately\ud and together, propagate through the hydraulic model\ud and result in the uncertainty of water levels. The analysis is\ud conducted for the case of uniformflow in rectangular channels\ud and for steady gradually varied flow in real rivers. In the first\ud case, the exact probability density functions (PDFs) of water\ud levels are obtained analytically through the derived distribution\ud method, while in the second case, the output PDFs are\ud heuristically obtained via Monte Carlo simulations. The results\ud show that (1) the water level PDFs have a lower coefficient\ud of variation than the input PDFs due to the mathematical\ud nature of the relationship between input and output; (2) the\ud propagation of symmetric input distributions through the uniform\ud and steady flow equations determines asymmetric output\ud distributions, due to model nonlinearities. In particular, discharge\ud uncertainty leads to left skewed water level PDFs while\ud roughness uncertainty is responsible for output distributions\ud with heavier right tails. Therefore, in the case of roughness\ud uncertainty, the adoption of symmetrical PDFs would lead to\ud underestimation of high quantiles; (3) water level calculations\ud are more sensitive to uncertainty in the Strickler coefficient\ud rather than in upstream discharge, when the two variables are\ud characterised by the same level of uncertainty, and (4) roughness\ud and discharge uncertainties have a significant effect on\ud the predicted water levels, and they should not be neglected in\ud the practical applications, such as flood forecasting, floodplain\ud mapping and design of flood protection solutions

This study investigates the impact that uncertainty in phase contrast-MRI derived inlet boundary conditions has on patient-specific computational hemodynamics models of the healthy human thoracic aorta. By means of Monte Carlo simulations, we provide advice on where, when and how, it is important to account for this source of uncertainty. The study shows that the uncertainty propagates not only to the intravascular flow, but also to the shear stress distribution at the vessel wall. More specifically, the results show an increase in the uncertainty of the predicted output variables, with respect to the input uncertainty, more marked for blood pressure and wall shear stress. The methodological approach proposed here can be easily extended to study uncertainty propagation in both healthy and pathological computational hemodynamic models.

The work focuses on hydrodynamic interactions between heaving wave energy converters (WEC). Wave parks of four devices are simulated in the time domain by a hydrodynamic-electromagnetic model, coupled with a boundary element code for the estimation of hydrodynamic parameters. Different layouts (linear, square and rhombus), WEC separation distances (5, 10, 20 and 30 buoy diameters) and incident wave directions (30° apart) are considered to assess the effect of design parameters on array power production. Then, a site-specific design optimization is carried out for different Italian locations and some key insights on wave farm design in real wave climates are provided. The results show that the effect of wave interactions on energy absorption is not expected to be a main issue, as long as the devices are separated by at least 10 buoy diameters and that the layouts are oriented to achieve the maximum energy absorption for the prevailing wave direction.

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