Comparison of numerical dynamic pressure inside a pneumatic chamber of an OWC device with measured dynamic pressure by model experiments

Abstract

The wave energy absorption device based on oscillating water column (OWC) concept has turned out to be the most feasible candidate for commercialization because its simplicity of operational principle and easiness of construction. Hong et al. (2004) introduced a pneumatic damping coefficient for his numerical study of the motion and drift force of a floating type OWC device by assuming the air pressure drop in the chamber is proportional to the air velocity at the duct. The dynamic pressure in the air chamber by Hong et al.'s numerical method using damping coefficient proposed by Choi et al.'s (2004a) were compared with those dynamic pressure measured by experiments to validate Hong et al.'s numerical method. The numerical method proposed by Choi et al. enhanced the accuracy of the numerical calculation, because it closely reflected the non-linear viscous air damping at the duct. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 15th International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference (Seoul, Korea 6/19-24/2005).