In this paper, the kinematic dynamics of an oscillating water column wave energy converter with backward bend duct buoy were studied. A scaled model test and numerical simulation were conducted. The unique point of the oscillating water column in the model test is that it has an air reservoir for force similarity in the column, Moreover, the Maxwell model that air spring effect in the column and power generation turbine model are connected in series was applied to the numerical simulation as a more reasonable measure. The results of the model test and the numerical simulation showed a good agreement.
National Maritime Research Institute, NMRI, had been studying the analytical method on safety assessment of floating power generation facilities for ten years more. As a part of these studies, a backward bend duct buoy oscillating water column type wave energy convertor (OWC-WEC) was also studied in our institute. The purpose of this study is to confirm the feasibility of model tests and numerical calculations, including phenomena specific to an OWC-WEC. One of the unique parts of the OWC that has an air chamber is which is not found in other WECs. In this study, a scale model test and numerical simulation, with Maxwell model are carried out for a floating oscillating water column wave energy converter, taking into account the characteristics of the air chamber (Hirao, 2016 and Kokubun, 2017). In the model test, an air reservoir was used, giving priority to the similarity of the air force. In the numerical simulation, the air chamber was modeled using a Maxwell model with a spring and a damper connected in series. The effectiveness of the model test and the numerical simulations is examined and reported in this paper. The novelty of this paper is that the spring and damper coefficients of Maxwell's model were obtained from experiments, and numerical simulations were performed using these values.
