Wave energy converter (WEC) designs to date—including Reference Model (RM) designs by the DOE and those submitted for the Wave Energy Prize—have followed a traditional design/build/test approach that requires potentially costly iteration. There are two significant shortcomings with this design approach: (1) WEC design theory builds on knowledge from naval architecture and offshore engineering, but fails to fully utilize design/analysis tools for oscillating systems (e.g., from electronics), and (2) current WEC design is ad-hoc, where designers clarify overarching system parameters to define the geometry of the device, then design a control system that is constrained by the hydrodynamics of that previously set geometry. More robust, analytical design approaches, utilizing optimization algorithms, have yet to take hold in the WEC development community, due to the lack of an efficient modeling/control design approach. This project seeks to overcome these critical issues in WEC design by creating a hybrid optimization system that simultaneously optimizes geometry and controls of existing WEC concepts. Highly-efficient model/analysis approaches which utilize pseudo-spectral methods to consider the dynamics of the entire system will be leveraged with this optimization system. Using the tool developed by this project, existing WEC concepts can be optimized for reduced LCOE and reduced CapEx/O&M costs.B) GOVERNMENT ROLE: These projects are collaborations between Sandia National Labs and private WEC developers. These collaborations allow these WEC developers to access unique engineering expertise at Sandia.
