## 4 Conclusions  
In conclusion, the main objective of this study is to develop and investigate the performance of a small-scale underwater OCT in terms of inflow from the perspective of optimizing hydrokinetic energy harvesting applications. This research applies a combination of mathematical modeling and experimental testing on a scaled OCT model to accurately evaluate its performance. This study ensures the turbine model's durability and reliability for underwater testing by emphasizing the construction of a watertight nacelle using 3D printing technology with a specific satisfactory material. This research aims to establish correlations between generated power, force, and rotational speed, offering valuable insights into the turbine's ability to harness dynamic energy from current through dynamometer testing in a towing tank setup. Also, we compare our experimental resultswith mathematical simulations, which provides critical insights into the accuracy of our theoretical predictions in practical scenarios. This novel approach advances our understanding of hydrokinetic energy conversion and gives us a good foundation to improve our model in terms of conducting further analysis. We had a unique-novel design for understanding small-scale underwater OCT which represents a significant procedure for the performance analysis of hydrokinetic energy harvesting. We designed a unique long propeller shaft and nacelle to better evaluate the performance of the scale model. Also, this research provided a thorough evaluation of the turbine's performance by combining novel mathematical modeling with precise experimental testing. In the future, we will focus on refining our experimental methods, especially with the new nacelle design, improving our experimentation techniques, and conducting broader application studies to optimize efficiency, applicability, and repeatability. This research also supports the development of dependable renewable energy technologies to address global energy challenges while reducing environmental impacts. Conceptualization, N.I.X. ; Methodology, S.R., S.S., N.I.X., E.A. and L.B. ; Software, E.A. ; Validation, E.A. ; Formal analysis, J.I. ; Investigation, S.R., S.S. and N.I.X. ; Resources, N.I.X. and L.B. ; Data curation, S.R. and S.S.; Writing--original draft, S.R. ; Writing--review & editing, S.R., S.S., N.I.X., E.A. and J.I. ; Visualization, S.S.; Supervision, N.I.X., E.A., L.B. and J.I. ; Project administration, N.I.X. and L.B. ; Funding acquisition, N.I.X. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. The authors would like to thank the National Science Foundation (NSF) and specifically the Energy, Power, Control and Networks (EPCN) program for their valuable ongoing support in this research within the framework of grant ECCS-1809182 'Collaborative Research: Design and Control of Networked Offshore Hydrokinetic Power-Plants with Energy Storage'. The authors also wish to acknowledge the continuing support provided through the H2 theFuture framework funded by the Greater New Orleans Development Foundation (08-79-05681-03)/U.S. Economic Development Administration (08-79-05681). Not applicable. The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. However, access to the data is restricted because they are part of an ongoing study. Requests for data will be reviewed and granted in accordance with the study's confidentiality and ethical guidelines. We express our deepest thanks to [PERSON] and [PERSON] for their outstanding contributions and the positive impact they have had on our research endeavors. Their invaluable guidance, technical assistance, and collaborative spirit have been integral to the success of our project. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The following abbreviations are used in this manuscript: