Abstract
It is necessary to evaluate site-specific extreme environmental conditions in the design of wave energy converters (WECs) as well as other offshore structures. As WECs are generally resonance-driven devices, critical metocean parameters associated with a target return period of interest (e.g., 50 years) must generally be established using combinations, say, of significant wave height and spectral peak period, as opposed to identifying single-valued wave height levels alone. We present several methods for developing so-called “environmental contours” for any target return period. The environmental contour (EC) method has been widely acknowledged as an efficient way to derive design loads for offshore oil and gas platforms and for land-based as well as offshore wind turbines. The use of this method for WECs is also being considered. A challenge associated with its use relates to the need to accurately …
