Scaled model tests are an important step during the research and development of wave energy converters (WECs). While such scaled model tests in physical wave tanks are prone to undesired scaling effects due to e.g. mechanical artefacts and/or fluid effects, numerical wave tanks (NWTs) provide excellent tools for the analysis of WECs across a range of scales, overcoming the limitations of the physical test environment. Simultaneous scaling based on the Froude and Reynolds number is achievable in physical wave tanks only with significant effort, whereas NWTs allow the adjustment of fluid properties, such as viscosity, in an easy manner, thereby catering for Froude and Reynolds similarity. This study exploits the capabilities of a high-fidelity, computational fluid dynamics based, NWT and investigates the hydrodynamic scaling effects for the heaving buoy Wavestar WEC. Various test cases, relevant for WEC applications and with progressively increasing complexity, are considered to develop a comprehensive understanding of the scaling effects. Results show that significant scaling effects occur for the viscous component of the hydrodynamic loads on the WEC hull, while the system dynamics and total (viscous + pressure) loads are relatively unaffected by scaling effects.

比例模型试验是波浪能转换器 (WEC) 研发过程中的重要一步。虽然物理波浪水池中的这种比例模型测试容易由于机械人工制品和/或流体效应而产生不希望的比例效应，但数值波浪水池 (NWT) 为跨一系列比例的 WEC 分析提供了极好的工具，克服了物理测试环境。基于弗劳德和雷诺数同时缩放仅与显著努力物理波槽实现的，而NWTS允许流体性质，例如粘度的调整，以容易的方式，从而迎合弗劳德和雷诺相似度。这项研究利用了基于计算流体动力学的高保真度 NWT 的能力，并研究了 Wavestar WEC 升沉浮标的流体动力学缩放效应。与 WEC 应用程序相关且复杂性逐渐增加的各种测试用例被认为是为了全面了解扩展效应。结果表明，WEC 船体上的流体动力载荷的粘性分量发生显着的缩放效应，而系统动力学和总（粘性 + 压力）载荷相对不受缩放效应的影响。