Dielectric elastomer generators (DEGs) are soft electrostatic generators based on low-cost electroactive polymer materials. These devices have attracted the attention of the marine energy community as a promising solution to implement economically viable wave energy converters (WECs). This paper introduces a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation framework for a class of WECs that combines the concept of the oscillating water columns (OWCs) with the DEGs. The proposed HIL system replicates in a laboratory environment the realistic operating conditions of an OWC/DEG plant, while drastically reducing the experimental burden compared to wave tank or sea tests. The HIL simulator is driven by a closed-loop real-time hydrodynamic model that is based on a novel coupling criterion which allows rendering a realistic dynamic response for a diversity of scenarios, including large scale DEG plants, whose dimensions and topologies are largely different from those available in the HIL setup. A case study is also introduced, which simulates the application of DEGs on an OWC plant installed in a mild real sea laboratory test-site. Comparisons with available real sea-test data demonstrated the ability of the HIL setup to effectively replicate a realistic operating scenario. The insights gathered on the promising performance of the analysed OWC/DEG systems pave the way to pursue further sea trials in the future.

介电弹性体发生器（DEG）是基于低成本电活性聚合物材料的软静电发生器。这些设备作为实现经济上可行的波能转换器（WEC）的有前途的解决方案吸引了海洋能源界的关注。本文介绍了针对一类WEC的硬件在环（HIL）仿真框架，该框架结合了振荡水柱（OWC）和DEG的概念。拟议的HIL系统在实验室环境中复制了OWC / DEG工厂的实际运行条件，同时与波箱或海上测试相比，大大降低了实验负担。HIL仿真器由闭环实时水动力模型驱动，该模型基于新颖的耦合标准，可以为各种场景（包括尺寸和拓扑结构与实际情况大不相同的大型DEG工厂）提供逼真的动态响应HIL设置中可用的那些。还介绍了一个案例研究，该案例模拟了DEG在温和的真实海洋实验室测试站点中安装的OWC工厂中的应用。与可用的实际海试数据进行的比较表明，HIL设置能够有效地复制现实的操作场景。对分析的OWC / DEG系统的有前途的性能所收集的见解为将来进行进一步的海上试验铺平了道路。其尺寸和拓扑与HIL设置中可用的尺寸和拓扑有很大不同。还介绍了一个案例研究，该案例模拟了DEG在温和的真实海洋实验室测试站点中安装的OWC工厂中的应用。与可用的实际海试数据进行的比较表明，HIL设置能够有效地复制现实的操作场景。对分析的OWC / DEG系统的有前途的性能收集的见解为将来进行进一步的海试铺平了道路。其尺寸和拓扑与HIL设置中可用的尺寸和拓扑有很大不同。还介绍了一个案例研究，该案例模拟了DEG在温和的真实海洋实验室测试站点中安装的OWC工厂中的应用。与可用的实际海试数据进行的比较表明，HIL设置能够有效地复制现实的操作场景。对分析的OWC / DEG系统的有前途的性能所收集的见解为将来进行进一步的海上试验铺平了道路。