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Simulation Results

Introduction

Following successful completion of the numerical simulations, you may examine important simulation results. Flexcom Wave provides you with various options for examining key parameters which are typically associated with wave energy converters...

•Annual energy production

•Electrical power matrix

•Floating body motions

•Mooring fairlead tensions

In the current version of Flexcom Wave, the above information is presented as standard. If you require any additional outputs, you could always Migrate to Flexcom itself. Customised post-processing, where users will be able to request specific outputs, is planned for inclusion in a future version.

High Level Summary

Flexcom Wave simulates a scatter diagram of a relatively large number of different combinations of Hs and Tz/Tp/Te. For your convenience, the software automatically collates all pertinent information for you to inspect at a high level. The following options are provided.

•Power Matrix and Annual Energy Production. The electrical power matrix (in kW) is presented in tabular format, along with the annual energy production (in MWh). The AEP figure is obtained by combining the electrical power matrix with the probability distribution defined by the Wave Scatter Diagram. Specifically...

         (1)

 where Pe (Hsi,Tei) is the electrical power absorbed by the device for a given seastate defined by significant wave height Hsi and wave                energy period Tei, and p (Hsi,Tei) is the probability of that seastate occurring at the site location. Assuming you are satisfied with the                power matrix, you can Export to Exceedence.

•View 3D Plots. This option allows you to view key parameters such as electric power as a function of both Hs and Tz/Tp/Te in a 3-dimensional space.  

 

•View Spreadsheet. This option allows you to examine a spreadsheet (known as a Summary Collation Spreadsheet in Flexcom terminology), which assembles summary output data from all of the seastates in the scatter diagram. For each of the output parameters listed above (i.e. power, motions and tensions), the spreadsheet presents maximum, minimum, mean, range and standard deviation values for each individual simulation.

Individual Seastates

While the High Level Summary outlined above provides an excellent overview, you may wish to seek further insight by examining results from any of the individual seastates. For example, if the maximum mooring line tension appears excessive for a particular combination of Hs and Tz/Tp/Te, you may be interested in viewing a time history of effective tension to check if the predicted maximum represents an isolated peak (which could be a numerical issue rather than a physical phenomenon) or is attained regularly throughout the simulation. Based on additional insights, you may wish to perform some sensitivity studies, to examine the effect on key solution parameters of reducing the analysis time step for example.

Firstly you select the seastate of interest by identifying the relevant combination of Hs and Tz/Tp/Te, and then you can invoke any or all of the following options.

•View Plots. This option allows you to view the variation of key parameters such as electric power as a function of time.

•View Structural Animation. This option allows you to view an animation of the wave energy converter in operation. The Model View provides rotate, pan and zoom options, allowing you to move freely and examine any region of the model in detail.

•View Output File. This option allows you to examine a text file, known as the Main Output File in Flexcom terminology. It contains an echo of all the specified input data. It also provides information regarding Convergence Ratios in the case of unsuccessful simulations, which can be useful for debugging solution problems.

Sample Time History of Power Output