Interference Model for an Array of Wave-Energy-Absorbing Flexible Structures

Water, water, everywhere{} Ocean waves are a source of renewable energy at the t00exe00exr00exa00exw00exa00ext00ext level. Optimizing array layouts for wave-energy converters is tricky, though, as the performance of each device is impacted by the presence of its neighbors. The excitation forces acting on each harvester can be increased or decreased via the complicated interference between waves scattered by the array. Based on small-scale experiments, the authors develop a one-dimensional interference model to predict the force amplifications resulting from such multiple-wave interference, and find that regular arrays may not always be optimal.