Helmholtz-type resonator with increased tunability and reduced viscous loss with application to wave energy converters
Date
2025
Authors
Cui, L.
Spinks, N.
Sergiienko, N.Y.
Tothova, D.
Leontini, J.S.
Cazzolato, B.S.
Manasseh, R.
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Journal article
Citation
Ocean Engineering, 2025; 333:121432-1-121432-11
Statement of Responsibility
Lidong Cui, Nathan Spinks, Nataliia Y. Sergiienko, Danica Tothova, Justin S. Leontini, Benjamin S. Cazzolato, Richard Manasseh
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Abstract
Wave-energy converters such as Oscillating Water Columns (OWCs) are designed to resonate at ocean-wave frequencies to extract renewable energy, but the low frequencies of the energetic waves demand large, expensive devices. To resolve this predicament, smaller-sized Helmholtz OWCs (H-OWCs) were designed. Their small sizes are achieved by reducing the cross-sectional area of their entrance sections. However, this leads to viscous losses at the transition between an H-OWC’s entrance and main sections. Moreover, an H-OWC is difficult to tune due to its fixed geometry. This paper proposes a modified H-OWC, called an I-OWC. Its main innovation is to use an “insert” placed in a chamber to reduce the cross-sectional area of the entrance section, avoiding the transition in an H-OWC to reduce vortex damping. Another benefit of the I-OWC is an increased tunability via changing the length of the insert in the chamber. A model of I-OWC is designed semi-analytically; the method is validated by wave flume tests. A conceptual design of a full-scale I-OWC is then proposed. In a broader sense, the design provides an alternative approach to tuning the frequency of a general Helmholtz-type resonating cavity.
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© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).