Analysis on Structural Response of Sharp Eagle WEC Under Extreme Sea States

Abstract

To ensure structural safety of the Sharp Eagle wave energy converter under extreme sea states with the floaters locked, a safety assessment method combining time-domain analysis and static equilibrium equations was proposed to obtain constraint forces and conduct structural response analysis.Taking the "Nankun" as the research object, time-domain analysis was performed to obtain acceleration curves, and static equilibrium equations were solved for the forces on the floaters. Global static analysis and refined analysis of key components were carried out. The simulation results show that the utilization coefficient of the Sharp Eagle is 0.68, corresponding to a safety margin of 32%, indicating that the structure has a sufficient strength reserve and meets the design safety requirements. The proposed method achieves accurate load transfer from hydrodynamic response to structural stress, providing a theoretical basis and technical support for the structural safety assessment of Sharp Eagle wave energy converters under extreme sea states.