The Dynamics of Wave Energy

In the quest for green energy, engineers have increasingly viewed tides and ocean waves as sources from which they can harvest energy. But there is no one single technology that has emerged as a standard for harvesting wave energy.

Energy Efficiency & Technology magazine looks at the functions that wave energy methods have in common. These functions include a captor that collects energy from the oscillatory motion of waves, power take-off equipment, which converts mechanical energy into electricity, and an anchoring system that holds the wave energy converter (WEC) in place.

The article, featured in the July issue, highlights three wave energy converters. All these WECs use different approaches for harvesting wave energy. But essentially, engineers analyze the dynamics of all WECs with the same approach, applying Newton's second law: Inertial force balances the forces acting over the WEC captor, or, simply, F = mA. The typical approach is to decompose forces into those from hydrodynamic and external sources...