Experimental Study on the Effect of Arm Design on the Performance of a Flap-Float Horizontal Ocean Wave Energy Converter

Assessments on the confi guration design of the ocean wave energy converter are fundamental to obtaining optimum performance under diff erent environmental scenarios. In this study, the physical experimental test was conducted to investigate the suitable confi guration of the proposed design of the Flap-Float Horizontal (FFH) energy converter device. A 1:20 scaled model was investigated in the laboratory tank subjected to normal wave conditions. Several parameters, including the arm length and angle of the buoy, were analyzed in diff erent wave steepness to obtain the optimum arm design confi guration. A total of 72 model tests were addressed to obtain a proposed maximum torque and voltage output. The result indicated that the best confi guration design could be obtained by increasing the angle between the arm and the rope below the water level. In addition, it was discovered that the optimal configuration design with an angle of 880 and an arm length of 0.6 m yield the best results. The infl uence of the arm design sensitivity to various wave heights tended to be directly linear to the torque and voltage output. Finally, it was found that the greater the wave steepness, the bigger the output results.