Conference article

Fabriconda is an attenuating wave energy device constructed from inelastic fabric. It is a flooded distensible tube constructed from a series of smaller flooded tubes; called cells; joined longitudinally. This paper presents a theory to predict the shape a Fabriconda forms at different tube and cell pressures and shows it successfully predicts the shape of a model Fabriconda. A 1D linear finite difference simulation based on the conservation of fluid momentum and mass in both the central tube and cells provides a prediction of the free bulge wave speed along the device. Experiments using a piston to artificially generate a bulge wave within the central tube of a model Fabriconda have produced bulge speeds that demonstrate good agreement with these predictions.

Wave energy; Wave power device; Finite difference model