Analytical and Numerical Study of Nearshore Multiple Oscillating Water Columns

Abstract

In the present study, the performance of two chamber nearshore oscillating water columns (OWCs) in finite water depth is analyzed based on the linearized water wave theory in the twodimensional Cartesian coordinate systems. The barriers are assumed to be fixed and the turbine characteristics are assumed linear with respect to the fluctuations of volume flux and pressure inside the chamber. The free surface inside the chambers is modeled as a nonplane wave surface. Two different mathematical models are employed to solve the hydrodynamic problem: the semianalytic method of matched eigenfunction expansion and the numerical scheme of boundary integral equation method (BIEM). The numerical results are compared with the semianalytic results and show good agreement. The effects of the distance between the barriers and the length of the barriers on the efficiency of the OWC device are investigated. The results of two chambers OWC are also compared with the results for an equivalent single OWC chamber. Further, the effect of the water depth on the capacity of the wave power absorption is discussed.