BEM Code User Manual Content Creation English Version

Project Overview

Recent studies have shown that the maximum technically recoverable energy from U.S. waves and tidal currents in approximately 1,420 terawatt-hours per year (TWh/yr).  From this total, Wave Energy Conversion (WEC) devices could extract an estimated 1,170 TWh/yr along the coast of the United States.  Because 1 TwH is equivalent to the energy consumed by 100,000 American homes in one year (source), this means that WEC devices could technically power 100 million American homes each year. 

With nearly 40% of the nation's population (about 125 million Americans) living in counties directly on the United States' shoreline (source), this renewable energy source is worth the investment.  And because an increasing portion of Americans are moving to the coast each year, accelerating the development of WEC devices could lead to a huge return on investment by providing clean, renewable power to significant portion of the U.S. population. 

But there's one big problem - testing new WEC devices is currently prohibitively expensive.  Developers of these devices require a software model that can simulate the movement of waves and determine the amount of power that their WEC device would output in a wave environment.  This type of modeling software currently costs about $40,000 a year to use.  While large corporations may be able to afford this high price tag, start-ups hoping to enter the wave energy industry cannot.

The goal of this project is to produce a customizable open-source modeling software that can be used by anyone developing WEC devices in the United States.  This will lead to faster innovation so that wave energy start-ups all over the country can develop, analyze, and optimize their devices more quickly than ever before.

 

Competition Task Overview

We are going to write a user manual for the project. In this project there are two applications that we need to use:

1. The Mesh Generator - this application will convert a CAD geometry into a 3D Mesh
2. Nemoh - this tool will use the mesh model to calculate the frequency-domain potential flow hydrodynamics. Please note we have upgraded the Nemoh code, DO NOT use the code in github, we will attach the upgraded code in the forum.

 

The Required User Manual

This should be a word document that covers all detailed steps for a user to run a case from beginning to end - starting with a CAD geometry, converting it to mesh, and then ending with a simulation using Nemoh. 

• The two application compiling steps are required in the manual since this manual will be one open source product manual for all developers over the world to read. The compile steps and verification part are still useful for the developers to understand two applications
• In these two application's submission folder, the deployment guide has the verification part, you need verify every file input and expected output.
• FlapSingle and Shell element Mesh should be verified from the very beginning to the end - first convert a flapsingle CAD to Mesh, then use the mesh to do the simulation with Nemoh. 
• You should include screenshots in your user manual so this is really easy to follow.
• The document should be in a good structure so that content is orgnized well, each section should include the path of the file for the configuration, as well as sample configuration snippets. Screenshots can also be useful.

The user manual must have table of contents, the provided existing use manual can be used as a reference, you should follow the same standards but with more detailed steps and screenshots.

 

Checkpoint

You must at least 50% of the user manual to qualify for checkpoint prizes.

Technology Overview

• C++
• Command Line

Documentation Provided

Documentation and Applications that will be provided to registered members in the forum.

Final Submission Guidelines