Savonius-type hydrokinetic turbines (SHTs), recognized for their self-starting capability and structural simplicity, have recently been explored as candidates for wave energy conversion (WEC). However, their inherently low energy capture efficiency (ECE) remains a significant barrier to practical application. To address this challenge, a rear-mounted curved deflector—specifically designed to accommodate the circular or elliptical trajectories of wave-induced flows—was investigated for its potential to enhance SHT performance in complex wave environments. A combination of wave flume experiments and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations was employed to systematically assess the influence of deflector parameters, including horizontal offset (x/D), vertical submergence (y/D), and coverage angle (0°–72°), on flow modulation and turbine torque. Results indicate that the rear-mounted deflector increases the maximum energy conversion efficiency by 31.7% across a range of wave conditions, demonstrating robust adaptability. Mechanistic analysis further reveals that maintaining the integrity of the terminal deflector section is essential for sustaining Venturi-induced pressure gains and reverse vortex shielding. These findings not only demonstrate the effectiveness of rear-mounted deflector configurations but also provide practical design guidance, supporting the advancement of SHTs as a promising new approach to wave energy conversion

Water wave propagation is of immense importance in the marine environment. We detail the implementation of a widely applicable wave model based on the σ-transformed fully nonlinear potential flow (FNPF) equation implemented within the open-source spectral/hp element framework Nektar++. The model is well-suited to describe nonlinear wave propagation in deep waters as well as in nearshore coastal areas where bathymetry effects are important. Spatial discritization is done using the high-order spectral/hp element method to keep the numerical dispersion to a minimum, which is important for long-time integration. There are two main novelties in this paper. First, we split the solution of the FNPF equations into two separate models: one to solve the free surface equations in Zakharov form and one to solve the Laplace continuity equation expressed in σ-transformed coordinates. The two solvers are then run as a co-simulation using the CWIPI code coupler, which handles the exchange of free surface variables. This facilitates a highly flexible setup not only in terms of mesh size and polynomial order but also in terms of dividing the available computational resources between the models. Secondly, to avoid having to re-factorize the time-dependent Laplace matrix each time step, we devise a splitting of the Laplace operator into linear and nonlinear parts and solve the Laplace equation in an iterative manner. The present paper outlines the theory and numerical discretization and presents numerical convergence and scaling analyses. In addition, three established benchmark cases are presented, all showing good results.

This paper reports on a benchmark study based on small-scale (1:50) measurements of a single, oscillating water column chamber mounted sideways in a long flume. The geometry of the OWC chamber is extracted from a barge-like, attenuator-type floating concept “KNSwing” with 40 chambers targeted for deployment in the Danish part of the North Sea. In addition to traditional two-way energy extraction we also consider one-way energy extraction with passive venting and compare chamber response, pressures and total absorbed energy between the two methods. A blind study was established for the numerical modeling, with participants applying several implementations of weakly nonlinear potential flow theory and commercial Navier–Stokes solvers (CFD). Both compressible and incompressible models were used for the air phase. Potential flow calculations predict more energy absorption near the chamber resonance for one-way absorption than for two-way absorption, but the opposite is found from the experimental measurements. This outcome is mainly attributed to energy losses in the experimental passive valve system, but this conclusion must be confirmed by better experimental measurements. Modeling the one-way valve in CFD proved to be very challenging and only one team was able to provide results which were generally closer to the experiments. The study illustrates the challenges associated with both numerical and experimental analysis of OWC chambers. Air compressibility effects were not found to be important at this scale, even with the large volume of additional air used for the one-way case.

This paper summarises the work conducted within the 1st FOWT (Floating Offshore Wind Turbine) Comparative Study organised by the EPSRC (UK) ‘Extreme loading on FOWTs under complex environmental conditions’ and ‘Collaborative computational project on wave structure interaction (CCP-WSI)’ projects. The hydrodynamic response of a FOWT support structure is simulated with a range of numerical models based on potential theory, Morison equation, Navier-Stokes solvers and hybrid methods coupling different flow solvers. A series of load cases including the static equilibrium tests, free decay tests, operational and extreme focused wave cases are considered for the UMaine VolturnUS-S semi-submersible platform, and the results from 17 contributions are analysed and compared with each other and against the experimental data from a 1:70 scale model test performed in the COAST Laboratory Ocean Basin at the University of Plymouth. It is shown that most numerical models can predict similar results for the heave response, but significant discrepancies exist in the prediction of the surge and pitch responses as well as the mooring line loads. For the extreme focused wave case, while both Navier–Stokes and potential flow base models tend to produce larger errors in terms of the root mean squared error than the operational focused wave case, the Navier-Stokes based models generally perform better. Given the fact that variations in the solutions (sometimes large) also present in the results based the same or similar numerical models, e.g., OpenFOAM, the study highlights uncertainties in setting up a numerical model for complex wave structure interaction simulations such as those involving a FOWT and therefore the importance of proper code validation and verification studies. 

This work focuses on the validation of the two-phase Navier-Stokes model interFoam, part of the OpenFOAM finite volume framework, applied to the case of a fixed oscillating water column. The model is validated against experimental results from the Technical University of Denmark. Both twoand one-way absorption, i.e. only the upor downstroke is used to drive the flow through the orifice, are investigated. For the one-way absorption cases a numerical one-way valve is employed. The results show a good fit to the experimental values for the two-way absorption, but for the one-way absorption the pressure, and subsequently power generation, is off. The reason is unresolved problems with the numerical one-way valve. Further, for the two-way absorption a formal solution verification was performed, showing the simulations had less than 7% numerical uncertainty arising from the spatial discretization

MoodyMarine is a weakly nonlinear potential flow model for wave-body and mooring  simulations with a graphical user interface. In this work we present the extension of the model to deal with constrained multi-body dynamics. By combining different translation and rotation constraints most joints can be modelled. As the constraints are imposed through springs and dampers in the explicit time-stepping algorithm, a slight manual tuning is required to make sure the bodies are constrained properly. Nevertheless, this tuning is shown not to influence the final results. In the paper we compare to existing test cases in literature as well as against experimental data. In all test cases there is a good agreement between the target solutions and MoodyMarine .

Wind power plays an increasingly vital role in sustainable energy development. However, accurately simulating wind turbine aerodynamics, particularly in offshore wind farms, remains challenging due to complex environmental factors such as the marine atmospheric boundary layer. This study investigates the integration and assessment of the Actuator Line Model (ALM) within the high-order spectral/hp element framework, Nektar++, for wind turbine aerodynamic simulations. The primary objective is to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of the ALM by analyzing aerodynamic loads, wake behavior, and computational demands. A three-bladed NREL-5MW turbine is modeled using the ALM in Nektar++, with results compared against established computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools, including SOWFA and AMR-Wind. The findings demonstrate that Nektar++ effectively captures velocity and vorticity fields in the turbine wake while providing aerodynamic load predictions that closely align with finite-volume CFD models. Furthermore, the spectral/hp element framework exhibits favorable scalability and computational efficiency, indicating that Nektar++ is a promising tool for high-fidelity wind turbine and wind farm aerodynamic research.

We numerically simulate the hydrodynamic response of a floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) using computational fluid dynamics. The FOWT under consideration is a slack-moored 1:70 scale model of the UMaine VolturnUS-S semi-submersible platform. The test cases under consideration are (i) static equilibrium load cases, (ii) free decay tests, and (iii) two focused wave cases of different wave steepness. The FOWT is modelled using a two-phase Navier-Stokes solver inside the OpenFOAM-v2006 framework. The catenary mooring is computed by dynamically solving the equations of motion for an elastic cable using the MoodyCore solver. The results are shown to be in good agreement with measurements.

MoodyMarine is a weakly nonlinear potential flow model for wave-body and mooring simulations with a graphical user interface. In this work we present the extension of the model to deal with constrained multi-body dynamics. By combining different translation and rotation constraints most joints can be modelled. As the constraints are imposed through springs and dampers in the explicit time-stepping algorithm, a slight manual tuning is required to make sure the bodies are constrained properly. Nevertheless, this tuning is shown not to influence the final results. In the paper we compare to existing test cases in literature as well as against experimental data. In all test cases there is a good agreement between the target solutions and MoodyMarine.