Consider a bottom-hinged Oscillating Wave Surge Converter (OWSC): This device oscillates due to the hydrodynamic forces applied on it by the action of ocean waves. The focus of this thesis is to build upon the in-house multi-block generalized coordinate finite volume solver GenIDLEST using a collocated grid arrangement within the framework of the fractional-step method to make it compatible to simulate such systems. The first step in this process is to deploy a convection scheme which differentiates between air and water. This process is further complicated by the 1:1000 density and 1:100 viscosity ratio between the two fluids. For this purpose, a phase field method is chosen for its ease of implementation and proven boundedness and conservativeness properties. Extensive validation and verification using standard test cases, such as droplet in shear flow, Rayleigh Taylor instability, and the Dam Break Problem is carried out. This development is then coupled with the present Immersed Boundary Module which is used to simulate the presence of moving bodies and again verified against test cases, such as the Dam Break problem with a vertical obstacle and heave decay of a partially submerged buoyant cylinder. Finally, a relaxation zone technique is used to generate waves and a numerical beach technique is used to absorb them. These are then used to simulate the Oscillating Surge Wave Converter. / Master of Science / An Oscillating Wave Surge Converter can be best described as a rectangular flap, hinged at the bottom, rotating under the influence of ocean waves from which energy is harvested. The singular aim of this thesis is to model this device using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). More specifically, the aim is to model this dynamic device with the full Navier Stokes Equations, which include inertial forces, arising due to the motion of the fluid, viscous forces which dissipate energy, and body forces such as gravity. This involves three key steps:
1. Modelling the air-water interface using a convection scheme. A phase field method is used to differentiate between the two fluids. This task is made more challenging because of the very large density and viscosity differences between air and water.
2. Model dynamic moving geometries in a time-dependent framework. For this, we rely on the Immersed Boundary Method.
3. Develop a numerical apparatus to generate and absorb ocean waves. For this, we rely on the Relaxation Zone and Numerical Beach Method.
These developments are validated in different canonical problems and finally applied to a two-dimensional oscillating surge wave energy converter.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/116033 |
| Date | 14 August 2023 |
| Creators | Jain, Sahaj Sunil |
| Contributors | Engineering Science and Mechanics, Tafti, Danesh K., Palmore, John A., Zuo, Lei |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
Page generated in 0.0019 seconds