Abstract
A VIVACE Converter was tested in the Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratory (MHL) of the University of Michigan (UofM) under constant flow. Testing conditions simulate a river flow for converting Marine Hydrokinetic (MHL) energy to electricity. The Converter was designed and built with up to four oscillators consisting of circular cylinders with large turbulence stimulation. The underlying principle is that such cylinders get excited in fluid-structure interactions (FSI). FSI in this case are Vortex Induced Vibrations, galloping, and their coexistence. Such FSIs are typically catastrophic for engineered structures and are suppressed. VIVACE enhances them and controls them, thus, converting MHK energy to mechanical energy in the oscillators and subsequently to electricity. VIVACE is environmentally compatible, based on natural phenomena with cylinders moving only 20%-40% faster that the flow, presenting no danger to fish or humans, making no noise.