Abstract
Wave Energy converters (WECs) are devices which convert the energy of ocean waves into other forms of energy, such as electricity. A 3D computational model is presented which simulates a pitching-cylinder type WEC. The model solves the full Navier-Stokes equations in order to predict the fluid-structure interaction. Simulations of the WEC motion and water free surface dynamics were verified with experimental data. Additional simulations were conducted to investigate the accuracy of the Froude scaling technique, which is a technique used in model scale wave tank laboratory experiments. Wave Energy conversion is a challenging problem and can require extensive computational resources. A study was conducted to evaluate whether a Cloud Computing service could be used to run these simulations with quick turn-around times and at a competitive cost. Additionally, in order to reduce the problem size and hence the computational resource requirement, a novel wave damping zone implementation was developed.