Introducing a New Mechanism as a Breakwater and Energy Harvester

Ocean wave energy is a renewable, dense, huge and time independent source of energy. In order to protect structures, ports and harbors against waves and converting this energy to useful form of energy, lots of studies are carried out. In this study, a novel mechanism is presented, which can break the waves and convert their energy into the electricity via an electro-hydraulic system. This mechanism consists of two plates with rotational and translational motions, which can be connected to the electro-hydraulic system. A prototype is made to study the system experimentally. The equation of motion of this mechanism is solved numerically and validated by experimental results. Finally, the wave transmission coefficients for different dimensionless incident wave frequency numbers are experimentally obtained. According to the experimental results, it is shown that the wave transmission coefficients of the prototype vary between 0.5151 and 0.7782. Therefore, it is concluded that the presented mechanism is a practical system that not only is an effective breakwater but also is a good energy harvester.