Rubber tubes in the sea

Abstract

A long tube with elastic walls containing water is immersed in the sea aligned in the direction of wave travel. The waves generate bulges that propagate at a speed determined by the distensibility of the tube. If the bulge speed is close to the phase velocity of the waves, there is a resonant transfer of energy from the sea wave to the bulge. At the end of the tube, useful energy can be extracted. This paper sets out the theory of bulge tubes in the sea, and describes some experiments on the model scale and practical problems. The potential of a full-scale device is assessed. © 2011 The Royal Society.