A numerical analysis of casing groove parameters on the performance of wave energy conversion device

摘要

Casing grooves in Wells turbine can enhance its performance. The present computational work has been carried out to understand the effect of casing-groove's width-to-chord (w/C) ratio on the performance of a wave energy conversion device. In this study, four different values of w/C ratio such as 0.24, 0.48, 0.64 and 0.96 were investigated. The circumferential casing groove depth (3% of the chord length) and tip clearance (1% of the chord length) were kept constant for all the cases. The flow field was analysed through discretisation of three-dimensional steady incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier-stokes (RANS) equations with two-equation eddy viscosity turbulence closer model. The simulation results show that the w/C ratio has a significant impact on the turbine performance and the w/C = 0.64 was found to be the optimal one among the several values investigated in the present study.