Abstract
Numerical simulations of the three-dimensional flow through a cascade of flat plates are conducted to analyze its lift and drag characteristics in a configuration of interest for a particular type of tidal hydrokinetic energy converter. To that end, the turbulent model parameters in the computational fluid dynamics code are validated against experimental data for the flow around an isolated plate at different angles of incidence and the same Reynolds number used in the cascade. The lift and drag coefficients of a plate in the cascade, as well as the effective nondimensional power extracted from the tidal current, are compared to the corresponding values for an isolated plate. These results are used as a guide for the design of the optimum configuration of the cascade (angle of attack, blade speed, and solidity) which extracts the maximum power from a tidal current for a given reference value of the Reynolds number.