A note on the hydrodynamics of a tail tube buoy

Abstract This note presents some analytical results for a tail–tube buoy configuration frequently used in wave energy conversion. The overall approach is based on Falnes and McIver's (Falnes, J., McIver, P., 1985. Surface wave interactions with systems of oscillating bodies and pressure distributions. Applied Ocean Research 7 (4), 225–234) extension to floating oscillating water columns of Evans' (Evans, D.V., 1982. Wave power absorbtion by systems of oscillating surface pressure distributions. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 114, 481–499) theory of oscillating pressure distributions. The diffraction air-flow flux through the tube and the diffraction wave force on the flotation collar are obtained using the formulation of Garrett (1970, 1971) (Garrett, C.J.R., 1970. Bottomless harbours. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 43 (3), 433–449. Garrett, C.J.R., 1971. Wave forces on a circular dock. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 46 (1), 129–139). Results can be used in sizing the tube and collar for efficient energy conversion.