Open Access
ARTICLE
CFD Simulation and Experimental Study of a New Elastic Blade Wave Energy Converter
Chongfei Sun1, Jianzhong Shang1, Zirong Luo1, Xin Li2,*, Zhongyue Lu1, Guoheng Wu1
1 College of Intelligence Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, 410073, China
2 College of Electronic Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Hefei, 230031, China
* Corresponding Author: Xin Li. Email:
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: EFD and Heat Transfer II)
Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing 2020, 16(6), 1147-1159. https://doi.org/10.32604/fdmp.2020.09937
Received 30 January 2020; Accepted 27 October 2020; Issue published 17 December 2020
Abstract
Small moving vehicles represent an important category of marine engineering tools and devices (equipment) typically used for ocean resource detection
and maintenance of marine rights and interests. The lack of efficient power supply
modes is one of the technical bottlenecks restricting the effective utilisation of this
type of equipment. In this work, the performance characteristics of a new type of
elastic-blade/wave-energy converter (EBWEC) and its core energy conversion
component (named wave energy absorber) are comprehensively studied. In particular, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and experiments have
been used to analyze the hydrodynamics and performance characteristics of the
EBWEC. The pressure cloud diagrams relating to the surface of the elastic blade
were obtained through two-way fluid-solid coupling simulations. The influence of
blade thickness and relative speed on the performance characteristics of EBWEC
was analyzed accordingly. A prototype of the EBWEC and its bucket test platform
were also developed. The power characteristics of the EBWEC were analyzed and
studied by using the blade thickness and motion cycle as control variables. The
present research shows that the EBWEC can effectively overcome the performance disadvantages related to the transmission shaft torque load and power
curve fluctuations of rigid blade wave energy converters (RBWEC).
Keywords
Cite This Article
Sun, C., Shang, J., Luo, Z., Li, X., Lu, Z. et al. (2020). CFD Simulation and Experimental Study of a New Elastic Blade Wave Energy Converter.
FDMP-Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing, 16(6), 1147–1159. https://doi.org/10.32604/fdmp.2020.09937