Abstract The Wave Dragon is a floating slack-moored Wave Energy Converter of the overtopping type, which is facing now the last phase of development before the commercial exploitation: the deployment of a full-scale demonstrator. In this phase a modelling tool allowing for accurate predictions of the performance of the device at different scaling ratios and locations of interest is strongly required.
The overtopping, depending on the local conditions of the deployment site, is identified as the right stage to be considered in the modelling. The existing formulation of the overtopping model needs to be updated in order to represent more accurately the effects of the geometrical features and stability of the device and of the local conditions and nonscalable parameters on the overtopping flow.
The paper analyses the conditions at which the present formulation has been established and proposes a strategy for its future development in which the effect of each factor influencing the overtopping flow is separately investigated and described by a dedicated parameter. This will broaden the applicability of the model, allow for more accurate predictions on the performance of the device and help to improve the efficiency of its control.
