Nonlinear wave energy dissipator with wave attenuation and energy harvesting at low frequencies

Abstract

It is important to determine how to reduce the wave load and utilize the ocean energy through the hybrid wave attenuation and energy harvesting structure (WAAEHS) as it is the basic scientific problem in the field of ocean engineering. The existing linear hybrid devices have poor performance due to the mismatch between the natural frequency and the excitation frequency in the low frequency region. The method of increasing the mass is unreliable and low economic, and the introduction of nonlinear mechanism to reduce the stiffness has complex fluid-structure coupling problem between waves and structures. In this paper, a new type of negative stiffness mechanism with a simple structure and good stability has been proposed and applied to a hybrid WAAEHS, and a nonlinear frequency domain method combining eigenfunction expansion matching method(EEMM)and multi-harmonic balance method(MHBM) has been proposed to solve the nonlinear wave–structure interaction dynamic model. The influence of the key parameters of the mechanism on the wave attenuation and energy harvesting performance is examined, and the “phase control” mechanism of the negative stiffness mechanism is revealed to improve the low-frequency wave attenuation and energy harvesting performance.