On the Natural Frequency of Tidal Current Power Systems - A Discussion of Sea Testing
In order to study its wet natural frequency (in water) and dry frequency (in air), we conducted a two-year measurement campaign by deploying a full-scale prototype tidal current turbine system. A theoretical model is validated, and reveals the measured wet natural frequency of the device could be 54.6% of the dry frequency. Among short-term physics, inflow turbulence is important in the excitation of system resonances that can lead to fatigue damage and system failure. Among long-term physics, the wet natural frequency is highly dependent on tidal constituents, the semi-diurnal tides (M2 and S2) and diurnal tides (K1 and O1).