Abstract

We consider a wave energy converter made of an array of Q neighbouring floating flap gates with finite thickness in front of a straight vertical wall in constant depth. Solutions of the radiation and scattering problems are achieved by application of Green's theorem and Green's function yielding a system of hypersingular integral equations for the velocity potential expanded in terms of Legendre polynomials. We investigate how the distance between the array and the vertical wall affects the performance of the array under the action of monochromatic and random waves. We show that large values of the exciting torque on the gates can be obtained by tuning the wall distance with the resonance of the natural modes of the array; this in turn yields large power extraction for a wide range of frequencies.

Highlights

  • In this paper, the behaviour of a single array made of Q floating flap gates with finite thickness in front of a straight vertical wall is analysed

  • We have attained a summation of factors: the exciting torque is maximized, the array of gates is tuned to resonance and the generated power is maximized

  • The radiation and scattering potentials on the boundary of the array are expressed in terms of Legendre polynomials and the respective coefficients have been obtained by the solution of a system of hypersingular integral equations

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Summary

Introduction

We show that the array in front of a reflecting wall achieves larger values of the capture factor with respect to both the case of a gate farm in open sea (Michele et al, 2015) and a single gate in front of a reflecting wall (Sarkar et al, 2015). Such a system benefits from the mutual interaction between the resonance of the natural modes and from the wall induced enhancement of the exciting torque. Michele et al / Ocean Engineering 118 (2016) 152–164 under the action of incident waves represented by the JONSWAP spectrum is investigated and discussed (Hasselmann et al, 1973; Goda, 2012; Eriksson et al, 2005; Sarkar et al, 2013)

Governing equations for Q gates
Solution of the scattering and radiation potentials
Gate motion and hydrodynamic parameters
Validation
The case of multiple gates in an array
Generated power and efficiency in monochromatic waves
 3  105 75  103
Optimization of the number of the gates in an array
Generated power and efficiency in random seas
Conclusions

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