Irregular water wave interaction with oscillating water column wave energy converter devices placed over undulated seabed.

In this study, the performance of an OWC (oscillating water column) wave energy converter device is investigated under the irregular incident waves. Two different bottom profiles in the OWC device region such as (i) smooth underwater shoal and (ii) doubly periodic bottom bed are considered in the present study. To model the irregular waves, the spectrum for the incident wave energy is considered. The well-known Bretschneider Spectrum is taken as the incident waves spectrum. The associated BVP is solved using a coupled boundary element - eigenfunction expansion method. The effect of irregular water waves and bottom undulations on the performance of the OWC device is analyzed in a detailed manner. Effect of resonance phenomena on the efficiency of the OWC device is also analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]