Design of a cylindrical buoy for a wave energy converter

The purpose of this study is to determine the optimal size of a cylindrical buoy based on wave characteristics: wavelength, wave amplitude, wave velocity, and other factors. Waves are classified into long-period swell waves and short-period lippers. A lipper can provide ripple energy to a wave energy converter, this process can easily cause instability of the energy system, therefore a skirt design can be adopted to increase the cylindrical buoy׳s damping and to decrease the effect of the ripple energy source. A swell wave produces a dynamic and steady force on the cylindrical buoy, providing a stable energy source, and can be used to judge whether the converter can achieve the design value of the expected energy by capturing the periodic average potential energy.