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The water impact of a three-dimensional hemispherical point absorber made of composite materials at constant velocity is studied. The hydroelastic problem is assessed by the explicit finite element method with an Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian approach considering the deformation of the structure. The study starts with a comparison with results presented in the literature for a rigid body material and a sensitivity analysis of mesh size. The influence of the penalty factor, which models coupling between body and fluids, is assessed on both hydrodynamic and structural response for a sandwich composite material. The influence on both hydrodynamic and structural response of two different impact velocities is analysed with three different composite materials. According to the results, the penalty factor has a relative importance on both hydrodynamical and structural response while the impact velocity has a considerable effect on the structural response. The penalty factor values of 0.01, 0.1 and 0.5 cause around 22 % differences for strains and 16 % differences in case of stresses. Increasing the impact velocity from 4 m/s to 6.15 m/s increases the maximum principal strains and the Von Mises stress in the sandwich structure roughly by 2. • The water impact of a 3D hemispherical point absorber made of composite materials at constant velocity is studied. • Comparisons with results in the literature for a rigid body material and a sensitivity analysis of mesh size are made. • The influence on hydrodynamic and structural response of two impact velocities is analysed with three composite materials. • Results show that the penalty factor has a moderate importance on both hydrodynamical and structural response. • Results show that the impact velocity has a considerable effect on the structural response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a study of the structural response of a point absorber wave energy converter structure made of composite materials under slamming loads. Glass and carbon fibre reinforced polymers combined with a polypropylene sandwich core are adopted for the structure subjected to breaking wave and bottom slamming. Design criteria from a classification society are used in the design of the structure in composite materials. According to the results, the matrix cracking and sandwich yielding criteria are particularly important in the design of the structure. This paper also highlights the importance of initial geometrical imperfections on the buckling strength which revealed a severe reduction compared to the linear buckling analysis. • The buckling strength of a wave energy converter structure made of composite materials under slamming load is assessed. • Glass and carbon fibre reinforced polymers combined with a polypropylene sandwich core make the structure. • Design criteria from a classification society are used in the design of the structure in composite materials. • The structure was considered subjected to breaking wave and bottom slamming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]