One-Way Coupled Dynamic Analysis of Floating Platform with Wave Energy Converters

In this paper, a six degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) motion of a floating platform equipped with a number of wave energy converters (WECs) has been studied. Since the relative heave motion is dynamically coupled by power take-off (PTO) mechanism, the platform responses are affected by the WECs. To examine the effect of the WECs on the platform, an analysis of one-way coupling has been carried out. The equation of motion of the floating platform in the time domain has been established, and the responses of the one-way coupled platform are compared with the case of the platform without coupling effects from the WECs. The analysis shows that the damping effect from the WECs does not play a significant role for this kind of hybrid platform. However, heave, roll, and pitch responses can be changed depending on the operational mode of the WECs.