Title

Structural analysis of an underwater energy storage accumulator

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-1-2015

Publication Title

Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments

Volume

11

First Page

165

Keywords

Flexible structure, Underwater compressed air energy storage, UWCAES, VIV, Vortex induced vibrations

Last Page

172

Abstract

A full-scale three-dimensional simulation was conducted to investigate structural response of an underwater compressed air energy storage (UWCAES) accumulator to the hydrodynamic loads at Reynolds number of 2.3×105. The accumulator was assumed to be spherical, non-distensible and fixed to the bed of a water body via a cylindrical homogeneous isotropic elastic support. The simulation was carried out for three different supports with aspect ratios AR of 5, 10 and 20 where AR was defined as the ratio of the length to the diameter of the support. The effects of the aspect ratio on the frequency and amplitude of the vibrations of the solid structure induced by hydrodynamic loading were investigated. It was observed that the amplitude of the vibrations increases with the aspect ratio of the support, whereas the frequency decreases. The displacement of the spherical accumulator was illustrated on the X-Y plane for each case.

DOI

10.1016/j.seta.2014.11.004

ISSN

22131388

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