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Wave energy absorption by a floating air bag

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 December 2016

A. Kurniawan Open the ORCID record for A. Kurniawan [Opens in a new window] ,
J. R. Chaplin ,
D. M. Greaves  and
M. Hann
A. Kurniawan*
Affiliation:
School of Marine Science and Engineering, Plymouth University, Drake Circus, PlymouthPL4 8AA, UK Department of Civil Engineering, Aalborg University, Thomas Manns Vej 23, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark
J. R. Chaplin
Affiliation:
Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton, Highfield, SouthamptonSO17 1BJ, UK
D. M. Greaves
Affiliation:
School of Marine Science and Engineering, Plymouth University, Drake Circus, PlymouthPL4 8AA, UK
M. Hann
Affiliation:
School of Marine Science and Engineering, Plymouth University, Drake Circus, PlymouthPL4 8AA, UK
*
†Email address for correspondence: aku@civil.aau.dk
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Abstract

A floating air bag, ballasted in water, expands and contracts as it heaves under wave action. Connecting the bag to a secondary volume via a turbine transforms the bag into a device capable of generating useful energy from the waves. Small-scale measurements of the device reveal some interesting properties, which are successfully predicted numerically. Owing to its compressibility, the device can have a heave resonance period longer than that of a rigid device of the same shape and size, without any phase control. Furthermore, varying the amount of air in the bag is found to change its shape and hence its dynamic response, while varying the turbine damping or the air volume ratio changes the dynamic response without changing the shape.

JFM classification

Waves/Free-surface Flows: Waves/Free-surface Flows
Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 812 , 10 February 2017 , pp. 294 - 320
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Copyright
© 2016 Cambridge University Press 

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