Abstract
Aquaculture cages must remain stable under wave forces. Also, they need electrical power for the operation of some devices. This study aims to equip the cage's floater with point absorber wave energy converters (PAWECs) to harvest energy and subsequently reduce its vertical motions under regular linear water waves. The floater's hydrodynamic behavior is modeled using slender body theory and matched asymptotic expansions. The governing equation of Euler-Bernoulli's curved beam theory combined with the equation motion of the PAWECs is utilized for the structural modeling of the floater. The calculated vertical displacement of the floater at the location of the PAWECs is used to determine the generated power. The influence of effective parameters on the generated power such as wavenumber, floater bending stiffness, number of PAWECs, and their specifications such as stiffness and damping coefficients are examined. The results indicate that by installing the PAWECs with proper specifications on a cage with a main radius of c =18.75 m, the time-average of power around 7.5 kW per square amplitude of the incident waves can be achieved while the floater displacements reduced by 40–60%. As a result, combining PAWECs with cages is a good strategy for reducing structural vibrations as well as energy harvesting.