Hydrodynamic responses and layout optimization of wave energy converter arrays consisting of five-degree-of-freedom truncated cylinders in front of a vertical wall

Abstract

The hydrodynamic responses and layout optimization of a group of cylindrical wave energy conversion devices (WEC) in front of a fully reflecting vertical wall are investigated. Each truncated floating cylinder can oscillate with five degrees of freedom, i.e., surge, sway, heave, roll, and pitch. Based on the linear water wave theory, an analytical solution is developed for the hydrodynamic problem. The results of specific parameter studies suggest that the wall reflection effect significantly improves the energy extraction performance of the WEC array with the appropriate parameter conditions. A multi-level optimization method based on a genetic algorithm is developed. This paper investigates the optimal layout of the six WEC arrays, composed of 2–7 buoys, respectively. Additionally, the impact of other degrees of freedom (DOFs), besides the heave mode, on the hydrodynamic performance of the array is investigated. For β ≤ π/12, there is no need to consider the impact of other DOFs on the energy extraction in heave mode. The dimensionless amplitudes of other DOFs gradually decrease as the equivalent constraint stiffness increases. For k0a > 1.0, the heave amplitude and energy capture performance of the WEC array are significantly smaller. However, the amplitudes of other DOFs still have considerable magnitudes for k0a > 1.0. Therefore, for the sea area with high-frequency incident waves (k0a > 1.0), setting up a power takeoff system on other DOFs of each buoy to extract energy is a feasible solution to improve the performance of the WEC array.