| Abstract: | The present invention is directed to a nonlinear controller for nonlinear
wave energy converters (WECs). As an example of the invention, a
nonlinear dynamic model is developed for a geometrically right-circular
cylinder WEC design for the heave-only motion, or a single
degree-of-freedom (DOF). The linear stiffness term is replaced by a
nonlinear cubic hardening spring term to demonstrate the performance of a
nonlinear WEC as compared to an optimized linear WEC. By exploiting the
nonlinear physics in the nonlinear controller, equivalent power and
energy capture, as well as simplified operational performance is observed
for the nonlinear cubic hardening spring controller when compared to an
optimized linear controller. |