Abstract
We simulate two back-to-back full-scale tidal turbines using an in-house computational free-surface flow code. We briefly present the mathematical formulation of the computational framework. We first validate the proposed method on a single turbine configuration. A mesh refinement study is conducted to ensure the result is converged. We then quantify the wake effect and free-surface effect on tidal turbine performance by a case study. To investigate the free-surface effect, we perform both pure hydrodynamics and free-surface simulations. The time history of thrust and production coefficients is quantified. In both pure hydrodynamics and free-surface flow simulations, thrust and production coefficients of the downstream turbines drop significantly due to the velocity deficit in the wake. By comparing the result between free-surface flow and pure hydrodynamics simulations for the configuration considered here, we find that the free-surface does not affect the upstream turbine but significantly affects the downstream turbine.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 061001 |
Journal | Journal of Applied Mechanics, Transactions ASME |
Volume | 87 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 1 2020 |
Keywords
- computational mechanics
- free-surface flow
- hydro energy
- turbulence
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Mechanics of Materials
- Mechanical Engineering