Identification-based simplified model of large container ships using support vector machines and artificial bee colony algorithm

The 6 degrees of freedom (DOF) model with a high degree of complexity for capturing ship dynamics is generally able to track the nonlinear and coupling dynamics of ships. However, the 6 DOF model makes challenges in estimating model coefficients and designing the model-based control. Therefore, simplified ship dynamic models within allowed accuracy are essential. This paper simplified the 6 DOF nonlinear dynamic model of ships into two decoupled models including the speed model and the steering model through reasonable assumptions. Those models were tested through maneuvering simulations of a container ship with a 4 DOF dynamic model. Support vector machines (SVM) optimized by the artificial bee colony algorithm (ABC) was used to identify parameters of speed and steering models by analyzing the rudder angle, propeller shaft speed, surge and sway velocities, and yaw rate from simulated data extracted from a series of maneuvers made by the container ship. Comparisons with the first order linear and nonlinear Nomoto models show that the simplified nonlinear steering model can capture more complicated dynamics and performs better. Additionally, comparisons among three different parameter identification methods demonstrate similar identification results but the different performance involving the applicability and effectiveness. SVM optimized by ABC is relatively convenient and effective for parameter identification of ship simplified dynamic models.     

Validation of ship manoeuvring models using metamodels

This paper describes how simplified auxiliary models—metamodels—can be used to create benchmarks for validating ship manoeuvring simulation models. A metamodel represents ship performance for a limited range of parameters, such as rudder angles and surge velocity. In contrast to traditional system identification methods, metamodels are identified from multiple trial recordings, each containing data on the ship’s inherent dynamics (similar for all trials) and random disturbances such as environmental effects and slightly different loading conditions. Thus, metamodels can be used to obtain these essential data, where simple averaging is not possible. In addition, metamodels are used to represent a ship’s behaviour and not to obtain physical insights into ship dynamics. The experimental trials used for the identification of metamodels can be found in in-service recorded data. After the metamodel is identified, it is used to simulate trials without substantial deviations from the ship state parameters used for the identification. Subsequently, the predictions of the metamodels are compared with the predictions of a tested manoeuvring simulation model. We present two case studies to demonstrate the application of metamodels for moderate turning motions of two ships.     

A 3D fully coupled analysis of nonlinear sloshing and ship motion

This study investigates the coupling effects of six degrees of freedom in ship motion with fluid oscillation inside a three-dimensional rectangular container using a novel time domain simulation scheme. During the time marching, the tank-sloshing algorithm is coupled with the vessel-motion algorithm so that the influence of tank sloshing on vessel motions and vice versa can be assessed. Several factors influencing the dynamic behavior of tank–liquid system due to moving ship are also investigated. These factors include container parameters, environmental settings such as the significant wave height, current velocity as well as the direction of wind, wave and flow current acting on the ship. The nonlinear sloshing is studied using a finite element model whereas nonlinear ship motion is simulated using a hybrid marine control system. Computed roll response is compared with the existing results, showing fair agreement. Although the two hull forms and the sea states are not identical, the numerical result shows the same trend of the roll motion when the anti-rolling tanks are considered. Thus, the numerical approach presented in this paper is expected to be very useful and realistic in evaluating the coupling effects of nonlinear sloshing and 6-DOF ship motion.     

Vision-based tracking with projective mapping for parameter identification of remotely operated vehicles

Parameter identification of a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is often based on the dynamic responses collected by its onboard sensors. However, for commercial ROVs, the required data for identification may not be available due to the absence of suitable sensors or limitations in accessing onboard sensor data. Therefore, this study proposes a vision-based tracking system to measure the dynamic response of an ROV. The tracking system is independent of the ROV, and is able to localize an ROV to a high degree of precision by means of projective mapping. The validity of the proposed tracking system is demonstrated through identification of a commercial ROV. A simplified nonlinear ROV dynamic model with six degrees of freedom (DOF) is used for identification. Uncoupled motions, including surge, sway, and yaw, are obtained from the ROV dynamic model, and the corresponding experiments are carried out for each DOF. Hydrodynamic parameters are then estimated with numerical optimizations by comparing the measured ROV responses with the output of the mathematical model. The experimental results show that the vision-based tracking system can accurately measure the transient and steady-state responses of an ROV. Additionally, the simulations of the ROV dynamic model, with the optimal parameter estimates, give results in agreement with the measured data.     

Estimation of the Roll Hydrodynamic Moment Model of a Ship by Using the System Identification Method and the Free Running Model Test

When a fast container ship or a naval vessel turns, accompanying roll motions occur. This roll effect must be considered in the horizontal equations of the motion of the ship to predict the maneuverability of the ship properly. In this paper, a new method for determining a model structure of the hydrodynamic roll moment acting on a ship and for estimating the hydrodynamic coefficients is proposed. The method utilizes a system identification technique with the data from sea trial tests or from free running model (FRM) tests. To obtain motion data that is applied to the proposed algorithm, an FRM of a large container ship was developed. Using this model ship, standard maneuvering tests were carried out on a small body of water out of doors. A hydrodynamic roll moment model was constructed utilizing the data from turning circle tests and a 20-20 zig-zag test. This was then confirmed through a 10-10 zig-zag test. It was concluded that a model structure of the hydrodynamic roll moment model could be established without difficulty through a system identification method and FRM tests.     

Experimental studies on the slowly varying drift motion of a berthed container ship model

The effects of free-surface waves on the floating structures are of great importance in the offshore industry. Among the six degrees of motions of a surface ship the absence of restoring forces in surge, sway and yaw led to critical situations for moored ships in the recent times. The order of forces in horizontal plane and their exciting frequencies are matters of interest. The resonance with the presence of moored chains led to many accidents in the recent past. The lines in dry conditions may not give good damping and in wet condition they may trigger the system to chaotic motions and jumps. Two different loading conditions of a container ship model are tested with waves in laboratory conditions in two different drafts. The mooring lines are chosen as per scale law and the energy under the response spectrum is determined from the plots. The results give new insights into the movement of a berthed ships subjected to waves. Response of the moored ship to different loading conditions in different water depths are discussed in this paper. The paper gives the order of energy due to first-order and slowly varying movement of a berthed container model in a towing tank.     

A Crashworthy Device Against Ship-OWT Collision and Its Protection Effects on the Tower of Offshore Wind Farms

At present,more and more offshore wind farms have been built and numerous projects are on the drawing tables.Therefore,the study on the safety of collision between ships and offshore wind turbines (OWT) is of great practical significance.The present study takes the advantage of the famous LS-DYNA explicit code to simulate the dynamic process of the collision between a typical 3MW offshore wind turbine model with monopile foundation and a simplified 2000t-class ship model.In the simulation,the added mass eff...     

Full scale CFD seakeeping simulations for case study ship redesigned from V-shaped bulbous bow to X-bow hull form

Increasing propulsion efficiency, safety, comfort and operability are of the great importance, especially for small ships operating on windy sites like the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Seakeeping performance of ships and offshore structures can be analysed by different methods and the one that is becoming increasingly important is CFD RANS. The recent development of simulation techniques together with rising HPC accessibility enables performance of advanced seakeeping simulations for ships in a full scale. The paper presents CFD seakeeping analysis for a case study vessel in two variants: V-shaped bulbous bow hull form (as built) and innovative hull form (X-bow type). The study presents the influence of redesigning the ship on selected seakeeping aspects. The advanced CFD model, with the application of overset mesh technique, was described in detail. Selected numerical results were validated on the basis of experimental testing in a towing tank and showed good agreement. The approach demonstrated here of performing the CFD seakeeping simulations for the analysis of ship performance in a full scale and close to real loading conditions has direct application to the design process as well as in determination of optimal operational parameters of any ship.     

Numerical Simulation on the Resistance Performance of Ice-Going Container Ship Under Brash Ice Conditions

Ice resistance prediction is a critical issue in the preliminary design of ships navigating brash ice conditions, which is closely related to the safety of a ship to navigate encounter brash ice, and has significant effects on the kinds of propellers and motor power needed. In research on this topic, model tests and full-scale tests on ships have thus far been the primary approaches. In recent years, the application of the finite element method (FEM) has also attracted interest. Some researchers have conducted numerical simulations on ship–ice interactions using the fluid–structure interaction (FSI) method. This study used this method to predict and analyze the resistance of an ice-going ship, and compared the results with those of model ship tests conducted in a towing tank with synthetic ice to discuss the feasibility of the FEM. A numerical simulation and experimental methods were used to predict the brash ice resistance of an ice-going container ship model in a condition with three concentrations of brash ice (60%, 80%, and 90%). A comparison of the results yielded satisfactory agreement between the numerical simulation and the experiments in terms of both observed phenomena and resistance values, indicating that the proposed numerical simulation has significant potential for use in related studies in the future.     

远海浮式结构物与供应船旁靠系泊特性研究

针对远海浮式结构物与供应船进行旁靠作业时,水动力干扰、两船的相对运动、旁靠系缆系统和护舷系统的受力特征等问题开展研究。建立各船的有限元模型,设计出两船旁靠连接缆系统,选取合适的系泊缆和护舷参数。研究表明:浮式结构物和供应船的横荡、纵荡方向存在一定的同步性或跟随性,幅值相差不大,其它方向的运动并不存在明显的同步特征;供应船的各自由度运动幅值均比浮式结构物偏大;旁靠护舷的受力时历出现了明显的低频效应,说明护舷的受力较大程度上受船体低频慢漂运动的影响;浮式结构物对供应船的水动力干扰较大,当浮式结构物在供应船的上风位置时,表现为屏蔽效应,供应船的运动较小;在其背风位置时,运动加剧,出现多次共振、峰值放大现象,供应船对浮式结构物的水动力性能几乎无影响,因此,供应船从浮式结构物的下风口一侧靠泊作业将更有利于船舶的安全性能。这些研究结论可为实际工程操作提供参考。     

Response-based estimation of sea state parameters — influence of filtering

Reliable estimation of the on-site sea state parameters is essential to decision support systems for safe navigation of ships. The wave spectrum can be estimated from procedures based on measured ship responses. The paper deals with two procedures—Bayesian Modelling and Parametric Modelling—which both use complex-valued frequency response functions (FRF) to estimate the wave spectrum. It is therefore interesting to investigate how the filtering aspect, introduced by FRF, affects the final outcome of the estimation procedures. In order to do this, extensive numerical simulations—with known wave parameters—are carried out for a large container vessel. The study shows that filtering has an influence on the estimations, since high-frequency components of the wave excitations are not estimated as accurately as lower frequency components.     

Robust adaptive control of underactuated ships on a linear course with comfort

This paper addresses an important problem in ship control application—the robust stabilization of underactuated ships on a linear course with comfort. Specifically, we develop a multivariable controller to stabilize ocean surface ships without a sway actuator on a linear course and to reduce roll and pitch simultaneously. The controller adapts to unknown parameters of the ship and constant environmental disturbances induced by wave, ocean current and wind. It is also robust to time-varying environmental disturbances, time-varying change in ship parameters and other motions of the ship such as surge and heave. The roll and pitch can be made arbitrarily small while the heading angle and sway are kept to be in reasonably small bounds. The controller development is based on Lyapunov’s direct method and backstepping technique. A Lipschitz continuous projection algorithm is used to update the estimate of the unknown parameters to avoid the parameters’ drift due to time-varying environmental disturbances. Simulations on a full-scale catamaran illustrate the effectiveness of our proposed controller.     

Measures to diminish the parameter drift in the modeling of ship manoeuvring using system identification

System identification provides an effective way to predict the ship manoeuvrability. In this paper several measures are proposed to diminish the parameter drift in the parametric identification of ship manoeuvring models. The drift of linear hydrodynamic coefficients can be accounted for from the point of view of dynamic cancellation, while the drift of nonlinear hydrodynamic coefficients is explained from the point of view of regression analysis. To diminish the parameter drift, reconstruction of the samples and modification of the mathematical model of ship manoeuvring motion are carried out. Difference method and the method of additional excitation are proposed to reconstruct the samples. Using correlation analysis, the structure of a manoeuvring model is simplified. Combined with the measures proposed, support vector machines based identification is employed to determine the hydrodynamic coefficients in a modified Abkowitz model. Experimental data from the free-running model tests of a KVLCC2 ship are analyzed and the hydrodynamic coefficients are identified. Based on the regressive model, simulation of manoeuvres is conducted. Comparison between the simulation results and the experimental results demonstrates the validity of the proposed measures.     

Ultimate strength of ship hulls under torsion

For a ship hull with large deck openings such as container vessels and some large bulk carriers, the analysis of warping stresses and hatch opening deformations is an essential part of ship structural analyses. It is thus of importance to better understand the ultimate torsional strength characteristics of ships with large hatch openings. The primary aim of the present study is to investigate the ultimate strength characteristics of ship hulls with large hatch openings under torsion. Axial (warping) as well as shear stresses are normally developed for thin-walled beams with open cross sections subjected to torsion. A procedure for calculating these stresses is briefly described. As an illustrative example, the distribution and magnitude of warping and shear stresses for a typical container vessel hull cross section under unit torsion is calculated by the procedure. By theoretical and numerical analyses, it is shown that the influence of torsion induced warping stresses on the ultimate hull girder bending strength is small for ductile hull materials while torsion induced shear stresses will of course reduce the ship hull ultimate bending moment.     

动力定位船舶伪逆法与混沌粒子群法相融合的推力分配算法研究

动力定位船舶一般都装备冗余推进器,推力分配求解将直接影响最终定位的效果。针对伪逆法在推力分配中存在问题,提出一种把伪逆法和混沌粒子群法(CPSO)相融合的推力分配算法,该组合算法方便处理推力器各种限制条件,计算简单,能兼顾船舶的能耗及操作性,解决奇点问题。最后以某挖泥船为例,仿真结果表明该推力分配算法具备一定的实用指导价值,能有效提高船舶的定位性能。     

On the parametric rolling of ships using a numerical simulation method

This paper has shown a numerical motion simulation method which can be employed to study on parametric rolling of ships in a seaway. The method takes account of the main nonlinear terms in the rolling equation which stabilize parametric rolling, including the nonlinear shape of the righting arm curve, nonlinear damping and cross coupling among all 6 degrees of freedom. For the heave, pitch, sway and yaw motions, the method uses response amplitude operators determined by means of the strip method, whereas the roll and surge motions of the ship are simulated, using nonlinear motion equations coupled with the other 4 degrees of freedom. For computing righting arms in seaways, Grim's effective wave concept is used. Using these transfer functions of effective wave together with the heave and pitch transfer functions, the mean ship immersion, its trim and the effective regular wave height are computed for every time step during the simulation. The righting arm is interpolated from tables, computed before starting the simulation, depending on these three quantities and the heel angle. The nonlinear damping moment and the effect of bilge keels are also taken into account. The numerical simulation tool has shown to be able to model the basic mechanism of parametric rolling motions. Some main characteristics of parametric rolling of ships in a seaway can be good reproduced by means of the method. Comprehensive parametric analyses on parametric rolling amplitude in regular waves have been carried out, with that the complicated parametric rolling phenomena can be understood better.     

Design of passive anti-roll tanks for roll stabilization in the nonlinear range

The best way of reducing roll motion is by increasing roll damping. Bilge keels are the most common devices for increasing roll damping. If more control is required, anti-roll tanks and fins are used. Tanks have the advantage of being able to function when the ship is not underway. Our objective is to develop design procedures for passive tanks for roll reduction in rough seas. This paper focuses on the design of passive U-tube tanks. The tank-liquid equation of motion is integrated simultaneously with the six-degree-of-freedom (6DOF) equations of the ship motion. The coupled set of equations is solved by using the Large Amplitude Motion Program ‘LAMP’, which is a three-dimensional time-domain simulation of the motion of ships in waves. The unstabilized and stabilized roll motions of a S60-70 ship with forward speed and beam waves have been analyzed. For high-amplitude waves, the unstabilized roll angle exhibits typical nonlinear phenomena: a shift in the resonance frequency, multi-valued responses, and jumps. The performance of a S60-70 ship with a passive tank is investigated in various sea states with different encounter wave directions. It is found that passive anti-roll tanks tuned in the linear or nonlinear ranges are very effective in reducing the roll motion in the nonlinear range. The effect of the tank damping, frequency, and mass on the tank performance is studied. Also, it is found that passive anti-roll tanks are very effective in reducing the roll motion for ships having a pitch frequency that is nearly twice the roll frequency in sea states 5 and 6.     

Resistance and propulsion characteristics of various commercial ships based on CFD results

This paper uses computational tools to examine the speed performance of various types of commercial ships including resistance and propulsion characteristics. Eight commercial ships built in the last decade were selected for the study. They include four large-sized container carriers, one bulk carrier, one VLCC, and two LNG carriers. The Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equation has been utilized, and the computations were executed under the same conditions of the model tests to predict the speed performance, i.e., resistance and self-propulsion. The self-propulsion point was obtained from load-varying tests. The speed performance was predicted based on the model-ship performance analysis method of the revised ITTC’78 method. The limiting streamlines on the hull, wave characteristics around the model ship, and the wake characteristics on the propeller plane were also investigated. After completing the computations, a series of model tests were conducted to evaluate the accuracy of the computational predictions. The predictions clearly reveal the differences in the resistance and propulsion characteristics regarding the various types of commercial ships, and may be applicable to hull-form design.     

波浪作用下缆船拖带系统非线性运动数值模拟

基于船舶操纵性运动方程和拖缆的三维动力学运动方程,提出了被拖点位置匹配的方法,建立了拖船—拖缆—被拖船系统整体非线性拖带动力学模型。为了考察被拖船航向稳定性与横向稳性的关系以及波浪载荷作用的影响,被拖船采用水平面四自由度运动方程,并引入了波浪的作用力和力矩。拖船采用PD控制方法较真实地模拟了拖船航向改变的运动过程。对一个拖船—拖缆—被拖船系统(5 000 t的拖船和3 000 t的被拖船)在时域内进行了规则波浪作用下拖带运动的模拟,计算结果表明被拖带船舶在波浪中运动呈现运动稳定、不稳定和临界状态3种可能的特性。根据模拟计算结果,认为波浪中拖带航向稳定是被拖带船舶保持稳性的必要条件。     

Comparison of numerical solution and semi-empirical formulas to predict the effects of important design parameters on porpoising region of a planing vessel

Stability of the marine vessels in different conditions is one of the most important problems in the design of a planing vessel. In this research, the effects of some important design parameters (mass, longitudinal center of mass, deadrise angle, and length) of DTMB 62 model 4667-1 planing hull on the drag and also on the longitudinal dynamic stability (porpoising) are investigated in the velocity range of 2.12–8.486 m/s in calm water. In this paper, both numerical simulation of Reynolds Average Naiver Stokes (RANS) equations and semi-empirical formulas of Savitsky are used to analyze the motion of a 4667 planing vessel in calm water with two degrees of freedom (2DOF). For this purpose a finite volume, ANSYS-FLUENT, code is used to solve the Navier-Stokes equations for the simulation of the flow field around the vessel. In addition, an explicit VOF scheme and SST- Kω model is used with dynamic mesh scheme to capture the interface of a two-phase flow and to model the turbulence respectively, in 2DOF model (heave and pitch). Also, the results of both methods are compared with each other. According to the present results, changing the aspect ratio of the vessel and also the longitudinal center of gravity have the most effect on the porpoising region.