CFD Numerical Simulation and Experiments on Seawave Slot-Cone Generator in Random Wave

The Seawave Slot-cone Generator (SSG) is a wave energy converter based on the overtopping principle which has attracted a good deal of funds from both public and private investors in the last years. Yet, no reliable design method exists to predict the magnitude of forces exerted by the waves on its front face. Only recently a set of formulae have been suggested, based on results of physical model tests conducted with regular waves. In this paper the new equations have been applied to 5 random wave CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) numerical simulations following a wave by wave approach. The agreement between numerical results and empirical predictions has been found to be reasonably good.