Performance of a submerged piezoelectric wave energy converter device in time domain

Abstract

This work investigates the free surface displacement and the deflection of an immersed “piezoelectric wave energy converter (PWEC)” device lying over the undulated seabed. This investigation is one of the stepping stones to find the PWEC’s power generation in the time domain. To understand the PWEC’s power generation in the time domain, the free surface displacement and plate deflection are described for several instants of time. The observations revealed that the PWEC’s power generation reduced the amplitude of free surface displacement in transmitted waves from the incident wave pack. Moreover, it is remarked that the peak’s amplitude in the power extraction curve rises as the plate’s submergence depth reduces. Further, the uniform bottom boundary is more suitable for optimizing the PWEC’s power generation.

Keywords

• Wave energy converter
• Piezoelectric plate
• Time domain
• Rippled seabed