Nonlinear behaviour of interacting oscillating water columns ...

• Main Authors: Manasseh, Richard, Hasan, M. K., De Chowdhury, S.
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: Swinburne 2024
• Subjects: Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25916/sut.26251295; https://swinburne.figshare.com/articles/conference_contribution/Nonlinear_behaviour_of_interacting_oscillating_water_columns/26251295

A preliminary study is made of the dynamics of Oscillating Water Columns (OWCs), in which the amplitude of internal fluid displacement is nonlinear. The OWC is a well-studied class of ocean wave-energy converters. When the machine's natural frequency is appropriately tuned, it will resonate at the prevailing ocean-swell frequency. Large amplitudes at resonance are desirable since they maximise the power available for electricity generation; however, large amplitudes also imply nonlinear behaviour. Most analyses of wave-energy converters of any class assume linear dynamics. Furthermore, multiple machines are now constructed in close proximity to maximise economic returns, and hence they interact. The OWC is reduced to a single degree-of-freedom nonlinear oscillator based on appropriate simplifications of the Navier-Stokes equations. Nonlinear machines were then coupled together by inter-machine wave scattering. It is found that provided wave amplitudes are realistic for Southern Ocean conditions, linear ...