Abstract:

Based on the momentum computing method and applying FLUENT software, different water impeller hub radii of wave power generator simulating computation was carried out, and the results of impeller stress and  torque were obtained. Furthermore, compared with experimental  results, the influence of the impeller hub radius to generating efficiency was discussed, and the best radius was selected. This  method could  increase the optimization efficiency. The simulation results showed that  the analyzing theory and methods were valid and could  be applied to direct the design of a water impeller.

Key words: wave energy, FLUENT, water impeller, hub radius, buoy, power generator