Toroidal Buoy for Point Absorver WEC with Focus on Added Mass and Overloads

• In order for a wave energy converter (WEC) to produce electricity at competitive prices, the generator must not be over dimensioned in order to save money on production, transport and installation, but the WEC, in this case a point absorber, must also be dimensioned to withstand harsh sea states. High added mass will in some cases create severe inertia forces on the generator and might shorten the service life of the system. The magnitude of the overload forces can be reduced by choosing a buoy geometry with small added mass. Measurements of snap loads produced by a toroidal buoy and calculations of buoy intertia forces causing overloads on a generator with a toroidal buoy and an equal generator with a cylindrical buoy are investigated in order to compare the two shapes numerically. A toroidal buoy was found to have less added mass than a vertical cylindrical buoy with similar excitation force, which caused reduced overloads at short wave periods, thus reducing the overloads on the generator. Snap loads were found to not cause much greater loads than other forces found during operation.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik -- Energiteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering -- Energy Engineering (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

WEC

point absorber

toroidal

torus; buoy

overload

survivability

wave

energy

converter

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