To estimate the response of wave energy converters to different sea environments accurately is an ongoing challenge for researchers and industry, considering that there has to be a balance between guaranteeing their integrity whilst extracting the wave energy efficiently. For oscillating wave surge converters, the incident wave field is changed due to the pitching motion of the flap structure. A key component influencing this motion response is the Power Take-Off system used. Based on OpenFOAM, this paper includes the Power Take-off to establish a realistic model to simulate the operation of a three-dimensional oscillating wave surge converter by solving Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations. It examines the relationship between incident waves and the perturbed fluid field near the flap, which is of great importance when performing in arrays as neighbouring devices may influence each other. Furthermore, it investigates the influence of different control strategy systems (active and passive) in the energy extracted from regular waves related to the performance of the device. This system is estimated for each wave frequency considered and the results show the efficiency of the energy extracted from the waves is related to high amplitude pitching motions of the device in short periods of time.

The modelling of wave-structure interaction (WSI) has significant applications in understanding natural processes as well as securing the safety and efficiency of marine engineering. Based on the technique of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and the open-source simulation framework - OpenFOAM, this paper provides a state-of-the-art review of WSI modelling methods. The review categorises WSI scenarios and suggests their suitable computational approaches, concerning a rigid, deformable or porous structure in regular, irregular, non-breaking or breaking waves. Extensions of WSI modelling for wave-structure-seabed interactions and various wave energy converters are also introduced. As a result, the present review aims to help understand the CFD modelling of WSI and guide the use of OpenFOAM for target WSI problems.

Ocean wave energy is significant and permanent, but it is extremely challenging to capture it efficiently using energy conversion technologies. Thus, research on these technologies and the hydrodynamic response of energy devices is constantly growing. One way of increasing the energy extracted from the ocean is to deploy wave farms consisting of arrays of wave energy devices; however, this is not as straightforward as extending the hydrodynamic response of one device. When the incident wavefield interacts with one device, it will be disturbed/modified by its presence, showing behaviours such as reflection, diffraction, and radiation. This perturbed wavefield will interact with neighbouring devices, and its influence can be beneficial or disadvantageous depending on the hydrodynamics. The q factor is commonly used to assess this interaction, which compares the power capture of a wave farm to that of the sum of the same number of devices performing in isolation. In this work, the q factor of configurations of three Oscillating Wave Surge Converters (OWSC), varying the spacing and arrangement, is predicted using Computational Fluid Dynamics. This resulted in beneficial layouts of three devices in different wave conditions, and the optimal array can be extended to numerous devices, which can be applied to the design of wave farms.