Modeling and Simulation of Hydraulic Power Take-Off Based on AQWA

Abstract

The AQWA software is often used to perform hydrodynamic analysis, and it is highly convenient for performing frequency domain simulations of Pelamis-like wave energy converters. However, hydraulic power take-off (PTO) must be simplified to a linear damping model or a Coulomb torque model when performing a time domain simulation. Although these simulation methods can reduce the computational complexity, they may not accurately reflect the energy capture characteristics of the hydraulic PTO. By analyzing system factors such as the flow and pressure of each branch of the hydraulic PTO, the output torque of the hydraulic cylinder to the buoy, and the electromagnetic torque of the generator, a relatively complete hydraulic PTO model is obtained, and the model is applied to AQWA using the FORTRAN language. Comparing and analyzing the simulation results of the linear damping model, the Coulomb torque model, and the hydraulic PTO, we found that the simulation results obtained by the linear damping model are quite different from those of the hydraulic PTO, while the torque characteristics, kinematic characteristics and energy capture characteristics of the Coulomb torque model are closer to those of the hydraulic PTO model. Therefore, it is more appropriate to simplify hydraulic PTO to a Coulomb torque model based on AQWA.