Free-surface flow modeling and simulation of horizontal-axis tidal-stream turbines

A computational free-surface flow framework that enables 3D, time-dependent simulation of horizontal axis tidal-stream turbines (HATTs) is presented and deployed using a complex-geometry HATT. Free surface flow simulations using the proposed framework, without any empiricism, are able to accurately capture the effect of the free surface on the hydrodynamic performance of the turbine, as demonstrated through excellent agreement with the experimental data. To carry out the free-surface computations, we have developed a novel level-set redistancing procedure compatible with the sliding-interface technique used for handling the rotor-stator interaction in the HATT full-machine simulations. To illustrate the versatility of the proposed approach, additional computations are carried out where the HATT is subjected to wave action. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.