Today, at the International Conference on Ocean Energy (ICOE) in Dublin, GL Garrad Hassan will release WaveDyn, the first independently developed wave energy converter design tool to be made commercially available. WaveDyn allows users to model a wide range of wave energy conversion device types. Its flexible, multi-body modelling approach, coupled with a hydrodynamic flow solver, and a range of additional modules, including Power Take-Off (PTO) and Moorings modules, allows the user to build models that match the physical properties of real machines.
For nearly three decades GL Garrad Hassan has pioneered the development of design tools for renewable energy devices. WaveDyn will take its place in the company’s software portfolio alongside the industry standard design tool for wind turbines, Bladed, and the tidal turbine design tool, Tidal Bladed.Wave energy conversion brings with it a unique set of challenges, one of the most significant being the independent evaluation of the wide variety of different device types under development. WaveDyn has been developed to provide one self-consistent and rigorous tool that can be applied to a wide range of concepts.
Although WaveDyn is new, it benefits from GL Garrad Hassan’s experience in developing fully coupled engineering models which have been instrumental in the advances made in modern wind turbine technology. Founder and non-executive Chairman of GL Garrad Hassan, Dr Andrew Garrad , said: “The development of any new renewable energy device relies on a deep understanding of both the environment in which the device operates and the interactions between the device and the environment. I am confident that WaveDyn will be instrumental in the successful development of wave energy conversion as, through its use, we deepen our understanding of machine behaviour and loading.”
WaveDyn has been under development at GL Garrad Hassan for nearly 5 years, during which it has been applied to a wide range of wave energy converter types. It has benefitted from extensive verification exercises involving other device specific numerical models, and validation against experimental data from both R&D and commercial design projects. Most recently, WaveDyn has undergone Beta testing and validation as part of the £8m PerAWaT Project (Performance Assessment of Wave and Tidal Array Systems) commissioned and funded by the Energy Technologies Institute. The Head of GL Garrad Hassan’s Wave Energy Department, Dr Joao Cruz , said: “Verification and validation are key to building confidence in any numerical model. The validation studies that we have performed, and the positive feedback we have received from the Beta testers, make us confident that WaveDyn will help to accelerate the development of wave energy converter design.”
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Press Release, October 19, 2012