Design, Simulation, and Experimental Evaluation of an Efficient Rack-and-Pinion Wave Energy Conversion System

Abstract

The design, simulation and experimental analysis of the small scale mechanism of wave energy generation is a rack and pinion-based mechanism are presented in this study. A SolidWorks CAD model of the system was created and the rack and pinion parts were modeled in ANSYS to analyze the various loading and material conditions. The performance of structural steel and polylactic acid (PLA) were tested at the force of 300 N up to 2500 N to represent the energy generation and press usage. The analyses showed that structural steel has lesser deformation and better strength but PLA has been found to have considerable reduction of weight and better vibration damping and can be used in low-load applications. A prototype was built through experiment based on a crankshaft-driven mechanism in a 4 ft x 1.5 ft x 1.5 ft water tank to allow movement of a wave. The system was able to produce electrical power when the waves are of differing speeds and amplitudes. It was found that power output rises with wave speed and amplitude with the highest power output of 5.12 W at a wave speed of 15 m/s. The paper concludes the research that the rack and pinion-based conversion system has the capability of effectively harnessing the low-intensity wave energy, particularly when it is optimized using lightweight materials like PLA to use in making small-scale renewable applications. Keywords: Rack and pinion, Wave energy, Structural analysis, PLA, ANSYS, Renewable energy, 3D printing.