Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Dr Musa Bashir, Professor Nick BakerORCiD, Dr Rosemary NormanORCiD, Dr Kayvan PazoukiORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2026 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/ Marina-installed wave energy converters (WECs) operate under confined hydrodynamic conditions dominated by wave reflection, flow separation, and wall-induced vorticity, which are not adequately captured by traditional low-fidelity approaches such as linear potential flow theory (LPFT). Although computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has been widely applied to offshore WECs, convergence assessment in near-wall marina environments has largely relied on device motions or integral response quantities, with limited attention to turbulence-field accuracy. This study develops a mesh-converged three-dimensional CFD model for wave-structure interaction around a cylindrical WEC positioned near a vertical wall and introduces a novel turbulence-based convergence assessment as a key criterion for resolving wall-induced hydrodynamics. The results demonstrate that near-wall flow structures generate strong velocity gradients and enhanced vorticity, highlighting the importance of including viscous flow dynamics in the modelling framework. The model was applied to over 25 cases to analyse the influence of wall proximity on the hydrodynamic response of a cylindrical WEC. Depending on wall proximity, the kinetic energy of the device can increase by up to a factor of 9.5, demonstrating the critical influence of deployment location on device performance.
Author(s): Yildiz B, Dapelo D, Bashir M, Baker NJ, Norman R, Pazouki K
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Ocean Engineering
Year: 2026
Volume: 363
Issue: Part 2
Print publication date: 15/08/2026
Online publication date: 21/06/2026
Acceptance date: 17/06/2026
Date deposited: 29/06/2026
ISSN (print): 0029-8018
ISSN (electronic): 1873-5258
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2026.126658
DOI: 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2026.126658
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
