Finite Element Analysis and Optimization of Movable Wave Maker Based on Workbench

The movable wave maker is a special equipment for multi-side wave experiment for physical models in port and offshore engineering design process. During use, the base of wave maker is prone to deformation due to problems such as unevenness of the ground, which makes the wave pushing plate wearing with the bottom plate and side plates. That will affect the quality of wave making, even causing inelastic deformation or more serious damage to the wave pushing plate. In order to addresses the above issues, 3D models of several stiffness optimization schemes for the base of wave maker are established based on Design Modeler of ANSYS Workbench. And these models are imported into Mechanical Modeler of Workbench for mesh generation and load calculation. By comparing the results of different optimization schemes, the optimized structure and parameters of the base are obtained. The actual test shows that the deviation, uniformity and repeatability of the generated waves are superior to industry specifications.