ABSTRACT
The aim of this paper is to examine the effect of different mooring systems on the efficiency of an Oscillating Water Column (OWC) device. The method of ‘matched’ eigenfunction expansions for the velocity potential in the fluid domain surrounding the device is used to provide the necessary solution to the diffraction problem; the pressure– and the motion– radiation problems. Furthermore, considering the coupled dynamical model for the present analysis, i.e. floater and mooring system, the characteristics of several examined mooring systems are combined with the hydrodynamics of the OWC and the exciting wave loads to set up the coupled motion equations in the frequency domain. Theoretical numerical results concerning the motion response analysis of a moored OWC and the associated absorbed wave power obtained through the developed solution method in the frequency domain are presented covering different types of mooring systems and floater’s geometrical characteristics, aiming to an optimum arrangement for wave energy maximization.
