Experimental and numerical investigation of a taut-moored wave energy converter—a validation of simulated buoy motions
Journal article, 2018

This study presents an experimental and numerical investigation of a taut-moored wave energy converter (WEC) system with a point absorber type of WEC. The WEC system consists of a buoy, a unique three-leg two-segment mooring system with submerged floaters, and a power take-off system designed for the current experiment as a heave plate. The main objective of the study is to validate a numerical simulation model against experiments carried out in an ocean basin laboratory. Two physical models in model scales 1:20 and 1:36 were built and tested. The detailed experimental testing program encompasses tests of mooring system stiffness, decay tests, and different sea state conditions for ocean current, regular and irregular waves. A numerical model in the model scale 1:20 was developed to simulate coupled hydrodynamic and structural response analyses of the WEC system, primarily using potential flow theory, boundary element method, finite element method, and the Morison equation. Several numerical simulations are presented for each part of the experimental testing program. Results for the WEC buoy motions under operational conditions from the experiments and the numerical simulations were compared. This study shows that the simulation model can satisfactorily predict the dynamic motion responses of the WEC system at non-resonant conditions while at resonant conditions additional calibration is needed to capture the damping present during the experiment. A discussion on simulation model calibration with regard to linear and non-linear damping highlights the challenge to estimate these damping values if measurement data are not available.

simulation

point absorber

taut mooring

Experiment

wave energy converter

model validation

Author

Shun-Han Yang

Chalmers, Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2), Marine Technology

Jonas Ringsberg

Chalmers, Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2), Marine Technology

Erland Johnson

RISE Research Institutes of Sweden

Chalmers, Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2), Marine Technology

ZhiQiang Hu

Newcastle University

Lars Bergdahl

Chalmers, Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2), Marine Technology

Fei Duan

Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part M: Journal of Engineering for the Maritime Environment

1475-0902 (ISSN) 20413084 (eISSN)

Vol. 232 1 97-115

Simulation model for operation and maintenance strategy of floating wave energy converters - analysis of fatigue, wear, and influence of biofouling for effective and profitable energy harvesting

Swedish Energy Agency (P36357-2), 2016-06-01 -- 2018-05-31.

Chalmers Area of Advance Transport – funding 2018

Chalmers, 2018-01-01 -- 2018-12-31.

Subject Categories

Other Mechanical Engineering

Applied Mechanics

Vehicle Engineering

Driving Forces

Sustainable development

Innovation and entrepreneurship

Areas of Advance

Transport

Energy

Materials Science

Roots

Basic sciences

DOI

10.1177/1475090217735954

More information

Latest update

3/23/2021