Different Reliability Assessment Approaches for Wave Energy Converters

Reliability assessments are of importance for wave energy converters (WECs) due to the fact that accessibility might be limited in case of failure and maintenance. These failure rates can be adapted by reliability considerations. There are two different approaches to how reliability can be estimated: the so-called classical reliability theory and the probabilistic reliability theory. The classical reliability theory is often used for failure rate estimations of mechanical and electrical components, whereas the probabilistic reliability theory is commonly used for structural components. For WECs, mechanical/electrical components as well as structural components are of importance. Therefore, both reliability theories need to be incorporated in WEC designs, WEC developments and improvements of WECs. This paper gives an overview of the two reliability theories and how they can be combined for WEC applications.