Analysis of the performance of a top-hinged flap-type wave energy converter using a RANS-VoF numerical model

The performance of a full-scale top-hinged flap-type wave energy converter in the open sea is analyzed numerically in this study. A free surface flow Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes numerical model is used with the ANSYS Fluent® software. The flap, 7 m long, is immersed in a flume 10 m deep, and subject to waves with periods from 6 to 12 s and height of 1.5 m. The Power Take-Off (PTO) is modeled as proportional to the angular velocity of the flap. The hydrodynamic behavior and the influence of the damping of the PTO, the specific mass of the flap, and the vertical positions of the hinge and the flap are investigated. The mean absorbed power diminishes with the increase of the wave period. The range of the damping coefficients, from 700 to 900 kNms/rad, provides the best mean absorbed power, and the specific mass above 1400 kg/m 3 shows the best performance. The vertical position of the hinge and the tip corner of the flap that presents the highest mean absorbed power are 2 and 1 m, respectively. The energy of the transmitted waves observed in the numerical simulations indicates that some apparatus located shoreward to reflect waves may increase the device efficiency.