CFD-Based Study of a Tidal Current Turbine in a Horizontal Axis Under Regular Waves

The horizontal-axis tidal current turbine is often installed in near-surface to use the high flow velocity of tidal current, and many designers have found the effect of wave on the hydrodynamic performance of tidal current turbine. The present study focuses on the hydrodynamic analysis of a tidal current turbine in a horizontal axis under the condition of regular waves, based on CFD method. The experimental data are used to verify the feasibility of the method. A non-dimensional parameter k is defined as the ratio of tip submergence to wave amplitude. It is shown that the numerical method is good to predict the hydrodynamic performance of horizontal axis turbine. By comparing the power coefficient and axial load coefficient in different tip submergence and wave amplitude, the effects of tip submergence and wave amplitude on the hydrodynamic performance of tidal current turbine are analyzed.