Modelling of parametric resonance for heaving buoys with position-varying waterplane area

Abstract

Exploiting parametric resonance may enable increased performance for wave energy converters (WECs). By designing the geometry of a heaving WEC, it is possible to introduce a heave-to-heave Mathieu instability that can trigger parametric resonance. To evaluate the potential of such a WEC, a mathematical model is introduced in this paper for a heaving buoy with a non-constant waterplane area in monochromatic waves. The efficacy of the model in capturing parametric resonance is verified by a comparison against the results from a nonlinear Froude–Krylov force model, which numerically calculates the forces on the buoy based on the evolving wetted surface area. The introduced model is more than 1000 times faster than the nonlinear Froude–Krylov force model and also provides the significant benefit of enabling analytical investigation techniques to be utilised.