Flexcom Wave |
 
|
Flexcom Wave |
|
Flexcom Wave is Wood's dedicated simulator package for wave energy conversion devices. It represents a user-friendly, cost effective, software solution which is intended to allow developers to gain a deeper understanding of the structural response and energy generation potential of their device. Information derived from realistic simulations will facilitate progressive migration through the various stages, from conceptual, scale model, prototype right though to full scale versions.
Transition from early stage concept development to detailed engineering is seamless, as Flexcom Wave interfaces directly with ExceedenceFinance, a techno-financial modelling tool which can provide financial appraisals throughout each stage of the project life cycle. Through the collaboration, users of Flexcom Wave can readily access wave resource information for locations around the globe, while results from the engineering simulator ensures that all financial appraisals are based on realistic power data for a given wave energy converter and ambient environment.
The numerical modelling capabilities have been validated via several studies, including:
•Simulation of a two-body floating point absorber chosen by the U.S. Department of Energy as a reference model to benchmark marine energy technology performance. Validation involved code-to-code benchmarks with other software, and comparisons with experimental data derived from model-scale tank test facilities (Connolly et al., 2018).
•Simulation of a real-world device named ‘DUO’, a novel concept, which connects two oscillating bodies via angled pre-tensioned cable linkages. Results from the numerical simulations were validated with empirical data derived from model-scale tank tests (Connolly & Brewster, 2017).
Further information on this topic is contained in the following sections:
•Project View introduces the project workspace, a container for all of the components in your project (e.g. floaters, PTO, mooring lines etc.)
•Model View describes the structure display facility. This feature provides both a structure preview facility for use during model building, and a way of viewing an animation of the structure response after an analysis has completed.
•Migrate to Flexcom allows you to switch to the main Flexcom environment for greater modelling flexibility.
The above sections focus on the user interface aspects of the Flexcom Wave module. For further background information on the mathematical engine and associated theory, refer to Floating Body.
Flexcom Wave