Abstract
Energy generation from waves has presented itself as a renewable and promising idea, considering its huge but also nearly unexplored potential. The most commonmethodsofharnessing energy are through floating bodies, Oscillating Water Column (OWC) or overtopping. Wave energy converters through floating bodies need to have its geometry adapted to specific wave conditions, since they would be able to absorb more wave energy. The present article, therefore, approaches the comparison between five floats of different geometries, making comparisons with numerical simulations and experimental tests posteriorly, in order to verify which floater best adapts to each condition imposed by the waves. All tests in the wave tank were performed with sensors, in order to compare experimental and numerical results. For this purpose, hydrodynamic simulations with regular waves were carried out with each one of them using the commercial software ANSYS AQWA® and the data were treated using Python® algorithms. As a form of validation, floaters were printed three-dimensionally and fixed on a mechanical arm structure and then submitted to tests in a wave tank. To simulate a PTO, a system with spring and load cell was used. Other parameters studied were: arm rotation, generated power and floater RAO. At the end of the study, the floaters Ship, Spherical and Trapezoidal showed the maximum efficiency at the period 0.7 s, when absorbed power is maximum. The results obtained also reveal that each model tested was verified, permitting a selection of the one who has an optimal performance for a given operational condition of wave parameters.