A novel concept of Wave Energy Converters is considered, composed from a class of fully enclosed,appropriate, internal body mechanisms, which provide inertial reaction against any multi-axis,multi-direction motion of an external vessel. This ensures maximum wave energy capture in comparisonto other types of wave energy converters, based on internal reaction mechanisms. The internalbodies are suspended from the external vessel body in such an appropriate geometrical configuration,resulting to a linear trajectory for the center of the mass of the suspended body with respect to the externalvessel. Moreover, the suspension geometry ensures a quite simple and robust technological implementation,removing the restrictions of other linear, pendulum or gyroscopic variants of inertial reactingbodies. Furthermore, the mass and the inertia distribution of the internal body is optimized forthe maximal conversion and storage of the wave energy. As a result, the dynamic behavior of the internalbody assembly, is essentially that of an equivalent vertical physical pendulum. However, the resultingequivalent pendulum length and inertia can far exceed those achieved by an actual technicalimplementation of other pendulum variants, resulting to a significant reduction of the suspendedmass. A preliminary design of such a mechanism is considered and a simple equation is derived to estimatethe power conversion potential of such a mechanism, as a function of the main geometrical andinertial design parameters. Then, the behavior of the mechanism is evaluated under a combination ofsurge and pitch excitations.
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