| Harnessing the oceans' vast, clean, and renewable energy to do useful work is a tempting prospect. For over a century, wave-energy conversion devices have been proposed, but none has emerged as a clearly practical and economical solution. One promising system is the McCabe Wave Pump (MWP), an articulated-barge system consisting of three barges hinged together with a large horizontal plate attached below the central barge. Water pumps are driven by the relative pitching motions of the barges excited by ocean waves. This high-pressure water can be used to produce potable water or electricity.; A simulation of the motions of a generic hinged-barge system is developed. The equations of motion are developed so that the nonlinear interactions between the barges are included. The simulation is general so that it can be used to study other hinged-barge systems, such as causeway ferry systems or floating airports. The simulation is used to predict the motions of a scale model that was studied in wave-tank experiments. In the experimental study, it was observed that the plate attached to the central barge acted as a pendulum. It was also observed that the phases of the pitching motions of the barges was such that the motions were enhanced by the pendulum effect at all of the wave periods studied. Hence, the increased angular displacements produced greater relative pitching motions which would lead to higher volume rates of pumped water in the operational system. The numerical simulations are found to predict the pendulum effect. In addition, the theory predicted that the after barge motions were significantly less than those of the forward barge, as was observed in the experimental study. The good agreement between the two data sets gives confidence in the ability of the theory to predict the performance of the MWP prototype.; The motions of the MWP prototype in regular ocean waves are predicted by the simulation, and its performance is calculated. By modifying the length of the system to be compatible with the wavelength for maximum pitching excitation, the power output of the system is shown to increase by more than 150%. |
