ABSTRACT
One of the big challenges for offshore wave energy systems is how to guarantee the survivability in harsh environmental conditions. Nonlinear and complex phenomena in steep and high amplitude waves can be captured by CFD methods. Mesh morphing is the most common used dynamic mesh method, yet the high and steep waves are a challenge since the large amplitude body motion leads to deterioration of the computational mesh quality. Advanced mesh methods have been developed to overcome this issue, such as overset method. The goal of the present paper is to compare morphing and overset methods implemented in OpenFOAM by modelling the response of a point-absorbing wave energy converter in extreme waves, identified along the 100-year extreme wave contour at the Humboldt Bay site, California. Simulations of two extreme sea states are conducted and the results from two different methods are compared and discussed.
