Numerical simulation of floating bodies in extreme free surface waves

In this paper, we use the in-house Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) flow code AMAZON-SC as a numerical wave tank (NWT) to study wave loading on a wave energy converter (WEC) device in heave motion. This is a surface-capturing method for two fluid flows that treats the free surface as contact surface in the density field that is captured automatically without special provision. A time-accurate artificial compressibility method and high resolution Godunov-type scheme are employed in both fluid regions (air/water). The Cartesian cut cell method can provide a boundary-fitted mesh for a complex geometry with no requirement to re-mesh globally or even locally for moving geometry, requiring only changes to cut cell data at the body contour. Extreme wave boundary conditions are prescribed in an empty NWT and compared with physical experiments prior to calculations of extreme waves acting on a floating Bobber-type device. The validation work also includes the wave force on a fixed cylinder compared with theoretical and experimental data under regular waves. Results include free surface elevations, vertical displacement of the float, induced vertical velocity and heave force for a typical Bobber geometry with a hemispherical base under extreme wave conditions

A multi-region coupling scheme for compressible and incompressible flow solvers for two-phase flow in a numerical wave tank

We present a multi-region coupling procedure based on the finite-volume method and apply it to two-phase hydrodynamic free surface flow problems. The method combines the features of one incompressible and one compressible two-phase flow solvers to obtain a coupled system which is generally superior to either solver alone. The coupling strategy is based on a partitioned approach in which different solvers, pre-defined in different regions of the computational domain, exchange information through interfaces, i.e. areas separating these regions. The interfaces act as boundary conditions passing the information from one region to the other mimicking the finite-volume cell-to-face interpolation procedures. This results in high performance computing coupled simulations whose functionality can be further extended in order to build a generic numerical wave tank accounting for incompressible flow regions as well as compressibility and aeration effects. We select a series of preliminary benchmarks to verify this coupling procedure which includes the simulation of a hydrodynamic dam break, the propagation and reflection of regular waves, the convection of an inviscid vortex, pseudocavitation, a water column free drop in a closed tank and a plunging wave impact at a vertical wall. The obtained results agree well with exact solutions, laboratory experiments and other numerical data

Numerical simulation of phase-focused wave group interaction with an FPSO-shaped body

Copyright © 2018 by the International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE) The present paper summarizes the results for numerical simulation of a fixed FPSO-shaped body in uni-directional phase-focused wave groups, which is prepared as a short report for the CCP-WSI Blind Test Workshop on Focused Wave Impact on a Fixed FPSO at the 28th International Ocean and Polar Engineering Conference (ISOPE 2018). The numerical simulations were carried out using the open source toolbox OpenFOAM. An overset mesh method was applied, where two layers of mesh were generated, namely the background mesh and the overlapping body-fitted mesh. The incident focused wave groups were first validated against the experimental data at several positions. With the propagation of the waves, it was found that the waves generated by the numerical model were slightly dissipated due to numerical diffusion. Therefore, smaller wave crest was predicted from the numerical model. Then the simulations were conducted for the same wave conditions with the FPSO structure in place. The surface elevation and the pressure at several locations based on the validation criteria are reported

A numerical study of a freely floating lifeboat in regular waves

Copyright © 2018 by the International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE) In the present paper, the open source toolbox OpenFOAM was applied for analysis of the hydrodynamic force and motion of a floating lifeboat in regular waves. The Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations were solved and the free surface tracking was achieved by using the volume of fluid method. An overset mesh method was applied for the moving boundary of the lifeboat, in which a body-fitted mesh was generated around the lifeboat using the utility snappyHexMesh and a hexahedral background mesh was produced by the utility blockMesh. The field values were interpolated in the overlapping area between these two layers of meshes. The hydrodynamic forces and the motion of the lifeboat were calculated under the condition that the lifeboat was off-centered in the wave flume to mimic the effects of a larger mother ship. Due to the unsymmetrical condition, full six-degree of freedom (DOF) motion needs to be taken into account. The predicted hydrodynamic force and surface elevation for the fixed lifeboat, and the six DOF motion of the lifeboat were compared to the experimental data. Satisfactory agreement was achieved except the roll moment and motion, for which large discrepancies were observed

Improved numerical wave generation for modelling ocean and coastal engineering problems

We introduce a dynamic-boundary numerical wave generation procedure developed for wave structure interaction (WSI) simulations typical of ocean and coastal engineering problems. This implementation relies on a dynamic mesh which deforms in order to replicate the motion of the wave-maker, and it is integrated in wsiFoam: a multi-region coupling strategy applied to two-phase Navier-Stokes solvers developed in our previous work [Mart´ınez Ferrer et al. A multi-region coupling scheme for compressible and incompressible flow solvers for two-phase flow in a numerical wave tank. Computer & Fluids 125 (2016) 116–129]. The combination of the dynamic-boundary method with a multi-region mesh counteracts the increase in computational cost, which is intrinsic to simulations featuring dynamic domains. This approach results in a high performance computing wave generation strategy that can be utilised in a numerical wave tank to carry out accurate and efficient simulations of wave generation, propagation and interaction with fixed structures and floating bodies. We conduct a series of benchmarks to verify the implementation of this wave generation method and the capabilities of the solver wsiFoam to deal with wave structure interaction problems. These benchmarks include regular and focused waves, wave interaction with a floating body and the modelling of a wave energy converter, using different wave-maker geometries: piston, flap and plunger. The results gathered in this work agree well with experimental data measured in the laboratory and other numerical simulations

Numerical investigation of air enclosed wave impacts in a depressurised tank

This paper presents a numerical investigation of a plunging wave impact event in a low-filling depressurised sloshing tank using a compressible multiphase flow model implemented in open-source CFD software. The main focus of this study is on the hydrodynamic loadings that impinge on the vertical wall of the tank. The detailed numerical solutions compare well with experimental results and confirm that an air trapped plunging wave impact causes the vertical wall to experience pulsating pressure loadings in which alternate positive and negative gauge pressures occur in sequence following the first applied pressure peak. The strongest pulsations of the pressure are found to be near the air pocket trapped by the water mass. The instantaneous pressure distribution along the vertical wall is nearly uniform in the area contained by the air pocket. The phases of pulsating pressures on the wall are in synchronisation with the expansion and contraction of the trapped air pocket. The pocket undergoes changes in shape, moves upwards with the water mass and eventually breaks up into small parts. A careful integration of the wall pressure reveals that the vertical structure as a whole experiences pulsating horizontal impact forces. It is found that the average period of pulsation cycles predicted in the present study is around 5–6 ms, and the loading pulsations are quickly damped out in View the MathML source0.1–0.2s. Further exploratory investigation of the fluid thermodynamics reveals that the temperature inside the trapped air pocket rises quickly for about 2 ms synchronised with the pocket's first contraction, then the generated heat is rapidly transferred away in around 3 ms

An overset mesh based multiphase flow solver for water entry problems

This paper extends a recently proposed multi-region based numerical wave tank (Martínez-Ferrer et al., 2016 [1]) to solve water entry problems in naval engineering. The original static linking strategy is developed to enable the dynamic coupling of several moving regions. This permits the method to deal with large-amplitude motions for structures slamming into water waves. A background grid and one or more component meshes are firstly generated to overlay the whole computational domain and the sub-domains surrounding the structures, respectively. During computation, the background mesh is fixed while the small grids move freely or as prescribed without deformation and regeneration. This effectively circumvents the large and often excessive error-prone dynamic deformation of a single-block mesh as well as the complex and time-consuming mesh regeneration. Test cases of dam breaking with and without obstacles are first conducted to verify the developed code by comparing the numerical solution against experimental data. Then the new code is used to solve prescribed and free-fall water entry problems. The obtained results agree well with experimental measurements and other computational results reported in the literature

Numerical hydrodynamic modelling of a pitching wave energy converter

Two computational methodologies – computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and the numerical modelling using linear potential theory based boundary element method (BEM) are compared against experimental measurements of the motion response of a pitching wave energy converter. CFD is considered as relatively rigorous approach offering non-linear incorporation of viscous and vortex phenomenon and capturing of the flow turbulence to some extent, whereas numerical approach of the BEM relies upon the linear frequency domain hydrodynamic calculations that can be further used for the time-domain analysis offering robust preliminary design analysis. This paper reports results from both approaches and concludes upon the comparison of numerical and experimental findings

On global-local artificial neural networks for function approximation

We present a hybrid radial basis function (RBF) sigmoid neural network with a three-step training algorithm that utilizes both global search and gradient descent training. The algorithm used is intended to identify global features of an input-output relationship before adding local detail to the approximating function. It aims to achieve efficient function approximation through the separate identification of aspects of a relationship that are expressed universally from those that vary only within particular regions of the input space. We test the effectiveness of our method using five regression tasks; four use synthetic datasets while the last problem uses real-world data on the wave overtopping of seawalls. It is shown that the hybrid architecture is often superior to architectures containing neurons of a single type in several ways: lower mean square errors are often achievable using fewer hidden neurons and with less need for regularization. Our global-local artificial neural network (GL-ANN) is also seen to compare favorably with both perceptron radial basis net and regression tree derived RBFs. A number of issues concerning the training of GL-ANNs are discussed: the use of regularization, the inclusion of a gradient descent optimization step, the choice of RBF spreads, model selection, and the development of appropriate stopping criteria

A Blind comparative study of focused wave interactions with a fixed FPSO-like structure (CCP-WSI Blind Test Series 1)

Results from Blind Test Series 1, part of the Collaborative Computational Project in Wave Structure Interaction (CCP-WSI), are presented. Participants, with a range of numerical methods, simulate blindly the interaction between a fixed structure and focused waves ranging in steepness and direction. Numerical results are compared against corresponding physical data. The predictive capability of each method is assessed based on pressure and run-up measurements. In general, all methods perform well in the cases considered, however, there is notable variation in the results (even between similar methods). Recommendations are made for appropriate considerations and analysis in future comparative studies.</p