Built-in wave energy converter inspired adaptive vibration control for offshore floating platform

Abstract

In addition to wave energy harvesting, there is growing interest in integrating the wave energy converter (WEC) into the offshore floating platform (OFP) for potential vibration control. However, due to the inherent dynamic coupling among the OFP, WEC, and ocean waves, it is still challenging for existing WEC-OFP combined structures to maintain effective vibration control through structural parameter optimization under changing wave conditions. To address this issue, this paper extends the energy conversion mechanism of built-in WEC to vibration control to eliminate dynamic coupling induced by ocean waves on WECs. Based on this, a multiple electromagnetic damping adaptive synergy optimization method is proposed to meet the needs of vibration control under different wave conditions. To illustrate this proposal, a detailed design is presented using a semi-submersible floating platform synergizing multiple built-in WECs. A multi-degree-of-freedom mathematical model including multiple physical domains is developed and validated. Subsequently, vibration control-oriented multiple electromagnetic damping optimization is conducted, followed by performance analysis. Hardware-in-the-loop experiments are also conducted to test the vibration control effectiveness of the proposed approach under varying wave conditions. Results show that the proposed approach is particularly effective for varying ocean wave conditions.