具可滑動底部轉軸──推拉板式波能轉換器之設計與實驗研究

DESIGN AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE FLAP TYPE WAVE ENERGY CONVERTER WITH A SLIDING BOTTOM HINGE

本文的主要研究目的為設計及研發一適合臺灣海域的具可滑動底部轉軸之推拉板式波能轉換器，其設計構想來自二維線性勢流理論。我們針對推拉板板體質心高度、密度及波浪週期等參數，以實驗方法探討它們對此種新型波能轉換器之能量轉換效率的影響，並與傳統的固定底部轉軸之推拉板式波能轉換器進行比較。實驗結果顯示：（1）影響趨勢為：當板體質心高度愈低，或板體密度愈小時，能量轉換效率會愈高，且與理論一致；（2）具可滑動底部轉軸之推拉板式波能轉換器的表現應可合理地被期待超越固定底部轉軸式。 The purpose of this paper is to design and develop the flap type wave energy converter (FT-WEC) with a sliding bottom hinge for the sea climate at Keelung’s near shore. This design idea comes from the 2D linear potential flow theory for the FT-WEC. We experimentally study how some design parameters (flap’s center of mass, flap density and wave period) affect the energy conversion efficiency of this new type of WEC, and compare its performance with that of the FT-WEC with a fixed bottom hinge. The results show that (1) the trend is consistent with the theory that the energy conversion efficiency increases with decreasing flap’s center of mass or flap density; (2) the performance of the FT-WEC with a sliding bottom hinge can be reasonably expected to surpass that of the FT-WEC with a fixed bottom hinge.