CHARACTERISTICS OF HYDRODYNAMIC FORCE ACTING ON CIRCULAR CYLINDER PENDULUM IN PENDULUM-BASED TIDAL ENERGY CONVERTER

Abstract

 A new type of tidal energy converter utilizing the flow-induced vibration of a columnar pendulum is investigated. Strong drag force and moment act on the pendulum base of this tidal energy converter, and hence it is important to clarify the characteristics of these hydrodynamic forces for the design of the pendulum. Then the drag force and moment acting on the circular cylinder pendulum were measured in the circulating water channel test. This test revealed that an oscillating pendulum induces stronger hydrodynamic forces than a stationary one. The drag and moment coefficient have a higher correlation with tip speed ratio than angular amplitude of the pendulum oscillation.