Force Reacting Principle Applied to a Heave Point Absorber Wave Energy Converter (original) (raw)

The present paper reports a numerical study concerning the modeling and geometric optimization of a two body heave oscillating point absorber wave energy converter (WEC) using the force reacting principle. The device work principle is based on a surface body (or floater) force-reacting against a submerged body, as the excitation force of both, the floater and the submerged body, are in phase opposition. The relative motion between the two bodies generates electrical power through a linear power take off system (PTO). From the hydrodynamic point of view, the main purpose of the concept is to emphasize the radiation capabilities of the body placed under the free surface, as it has both excitation force components (diffraction and Froude Krylov) in phase. Therefore, the excitation force (and thus the hydrodynamic damping coefficient) is higher in the case of a submerged volume variation heave oscillating body (like the AWS wave energy converter) when compared to a floating buoy with th...