Abstract
There have been increasing newly-proposed wave energy devices in recent years, yet where has been a persistent lack of a unified, efficient, and cost-effective numerical simulation and optimization method. This paper presents a fully coupled time-domain numerical method of multi-body floating wave energy converter (MFWEC) by employing the AQWA-Simulink-WEC-Sim joint simulation framework and validates the method against full-scale model test data. This method can include: i) Establishment of an integrated simulation model that accounts for complicated interactions and coupling effects among subsystems. ii) Development of a nonlinear Power Take-Off (PTO) system model, enhancing simulation fidelity compared to previous simplistic representations. iii) Direct consideration of variations in incident wave conditions, impacting the energy-storage hydraulic transmission system A simulation model is established for Sharp Eagle Wanshan, and the results are obtained through this fully coupled method to exhibit significant feasibility and efficacy by comparing with previously-published step-by-step experimental data which encompass water basin experiment with a scale of 1:42, resistance loads characteristic experiments of the hydraulic transmission system, and open sea full-scale tests. The study mainly investigates the performance of the nonlinear PTO system, the coupled response between the wave capture system and nonlinear PTO system, and the operational characteristics of the energy-storage hydraulic transmission system under various regular wave scenarios. Overall, the paper offers insights into a control method for the nonlinear PTO system, while the AQWA-Simulink-WEC-Sim fully coupled method delivers an accurate, efficient, and cost-effective modeling and simulation framework applicable to diverse engineering applications of multi-floating wave energy converters.