Wave lab testing of a two-body autonomous wave energy converter

Wave Energy Converter (WEC) design strives to produce as much power as possible across differing wave conditions. It is especially true for an autonomous WEC (AWEC) used, for example, to power an ocean buoy sensing system, because they are smaller and they need to maximize the amount of power produced under low-energy wave energy conditions. An AWEC is a wave energy device that is not tied to a land-based electric utility. This paper describes the testing results and conclusions from actual wave lab testing of a WEC intended for autonomous applications. The results are compared to previous WEC hydrodynamic finite element analysis (FEA) that used integrated optimal control with both monochromatic and spectral waves. Conclusions are drawn with respect to the power absorption capability of the AWEC when the wave source is a monochromatic wave versus richer frequency spectral waves.