Abstract:
Sri Lanka being an island it is inevitable to utilize the ocean wave energy as a sustainable energy source. The
device called “Pendulor”, which is invented in Japan and has proven 40-50% of wave energy conversion
efficiency at the sea of Muroran, Japan. The low wave energy density oceanic climate of Sri Lanka makes this
device more preferred, because of its high energy conversion capability. The device consist a pendulum flap
hinged inside a caisson and the caisson is faced to the ocean waves. The economical feasibility of this device
depends on the construction cost. The conventional caisson is a straight chamber and this type of a device is
infeasible because of the length that causes increase in construction cost. A modified caisson is proposed to
shorten the caisson length towards the sea and to increase the frequency bandwidth of operation.
Model testing of this modified caisson with a solid friction damper is addressed in this endeavor. Laboratory
experiments were conducted with a 1/16 scale model of the proposed caisson. A solid friction damper was used
for the model testing and a mathematical model for the device was developed and the parametric modeling was
done by using MATLAB. The power conversion efficiency with a modified caisson was discussed in this
endeavor.
