Term of Award

Fall 2018

Degree Name

Master of Science in Applied Engineering (M.S.A.E.)

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (open access)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Committee Chair

Marcel Ilie

Committee Member 1

Mosfequr Rahman

Committee Member 2

David Calamas

Abstract

Wave energy shows significant potential for development into a competitive renewable energy source. Non-renewable resources are finite and contribute to adverse effects on the environment. Development of wave energy conversion devices that use heave motion as the primary driver for converting wave energy into electrical potential is explored through optimizing the geometry of an axisymmetric partially submerged buoy in deep water. The governing equations of motion and hydrodynamic forces are solved for in one degree of freedom using ANSYS Aqwa. An external PTO device is simulated to induce power capture in the system. Four different geometric shapes are tested and the introduction of supplemental mass and optimization of the hydrodynamic parameters across multiple sea states is conducted to determine the benefits of buoy shape selection. Time-averaged and peak power output is determined to be more than 10% higher in buoys of different shapes when compared to a cylindrical buoy, when tested in regular waves using the principles of linear wave theory which has shown good agreement with previous experimental results. Further testing of the different shaped buoys using the optimized supplemental mass and external PTO forces is examined in irregular waves but no correlation to the regular wave testing is determined, requiring a need for further study with irregular waves and CFD analysis.

OCLC Number

1085541960

Research Data and Supplementary Material

No

Download

Share

COinS