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.     

System-based investigation on 4-DOF ship maneuvering with hydrodynamic derivatives determined by RANS simulation of captive model tests

For the non-negligible roll-coupling effect on ship maneuvering motion, a system-based method is used to investigate 4-DOF ship maneuvering motion in calm water for the ONR tumblehome model. A 4-DOF MMG model is employed to describe ship maneuvering motion including surge, sway, roll, and yaw. Simulations of circular motion test, static drift and heel tests are performed by solving the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations, after a convergence study quantifying the necessary grid spacing and time step to resolve the flow field adequately. The local flow field is analyzed for the selected cases, and the global hydrodynamic forces acting on the ship model are compared with the available experiment data. Hydrodynamic derivatives relating to sway velocity, yaw rate, and heel angle are computed from the computed force/moment data using least square method, showing good agreement with those obtained from EFD data overall. In order to investigate further the validity of these derivatives, turning circle and zigzag tests are simulated by using the 4-DOF MMG model with these derivatives. The trajectories and the time histories of the kinematic variables show satisfactory agreement with the data of free-running model tests, indicating that the system-based method coupled with CFD simulation has promising capability to predict the 4-DOF ship maneuvering motion for the unconventional vessel.     

System Identification Modeling of Ship Manoeuvring Motion in 4 Degrees of Freedom Based on Support Vector Machines

Based on support vector machines, three modeling methods, i.e., white-box modeling, grey-box modeling and black-box modeling of ship manoeuvring motion in 4 degrees of freedom are investigated. With the whole-ship mathematical model for ship manoeuvring motion, in which the hydrodynamic coefficients are obtained from roll planar motion mechanism test, some zigzag tests and turning circle manoeuvres are simulated. In the white-box modeling and grey-box modeling, the training data taken every 5 s from the simulated 20°/20° zigzag test are used, while in the black-box modeling, the training data taken every 5 s from the simulated 15°/15°, 20°/20° zigzag tests and 15°, 25° turning manoeuvres are used; and the trained support vector machines are used to predict the whole 20°/20° zigzag test. Comparisons between the simulated and predicted 20?/20° zigzag tests show good predictive ability of the proposed methods. Besides, all mathematical models obtained by the proposed modeling methods are used to predict the 10°/10° zigzag test and 35° turning circle manoeuvre, and the predicted results are compared with those of simulation tests to demonstrate the good generalization performance of the mathematical models. Finally, the proposed modeling methods are analyzed and compared with each other in aspects of application conditions, prediction accuracy and computation speed. The appropriate modeling method can be chosen according to the intended use of the mathematical models and the available data needed for system identification.     

Multi-Innovation Gradient Iterative Locally Weighted Learning Identification for A Nonlinear Ship Maneuvering System

This paper explores a highly accurate identification modeling approach for the ship maneuvering motion with fullscale trial. A multi-innovation gradient iterative (MIGI) approach is proposed to optimize the distance metric of locally weighted learning (LWL), and a novel non-parametric modeling technique is developed for a nonlinear ship maneuvering system. This proposed method's advantages are as follows: first, it can avoid the unmodeled dynamics and multicollinearity inherent to the conventional parametric model; second, it eliminates the over-learning or underlearning and obtains the optimal distance metric; and third, the MIGI is not sensitive to the initial parameter value and requires less time during the training phase. These advantages result in a highly accurate mathematical modeling technique that can be conveniently implemented in applications. To verify the characteristics of this mathematical model, two examples are used as the model platforms to study the ship maneuvering.     

基于CFD船舶操纵性预报方法研究

基于CFD技术和重叠网格技术完成了黏性流场中KVLCC2船模的操纵性水动力导数的数值计算。为保证计算的精确性,进行了网格的收敛性分析,给出了合适的网格划分方法;通过数值模拟斜航运动、纯横荡运动和纯艏摇运动计算出的水动力与相应条件下的试验值对比,计算结果与试验值吻合良好,计算出的水动力导数准确度较高。基于MMG分离建模方法建立KVLCC2船模的操纵性数学模型,利用龙格-库塔算法求解微分方程组,对船舶操纵运动进行仿真。回转试验和Z形操舵试验的仿真结果与试验结果对比,其回转直径和轨迹都非常吻合,表明采用的船舶操纵性预报是可行的。     

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.     

Numerical simulation of PMM tests for a ship in close proximity to sidewall and maneuvering stability analysis

As the maneuverability of a ship navigating close to a bank is influenced by the sidewall, the assessment of ship maneuvering stability is important. The hydrodynamic derivatives measured by the planar motion mechanism (PMM) test provide a way to predict the change of ship maneuverability. This paper presents a numerical simulation of PMM model tests with variant distances to a vertical bank by using unsteady RANS equations. A hybrid dynamic mesh technique is developed to realize the mesh configuration and remeshing of dynamic PMM tests when the ship is close to the bank. The proposed method is validated by comparing numerical results with results of PMM tests in a circulating water channel. The first-order hydrodynamic derivatives of the ship are analyzed from the time history of lateral force and yaw moment according to the multiple-run simulating procedure and the variations of hydrodynamic derivatives with the ship-sidewall distance are given. The straight line stability and directional stability are also discussed and stable or unstable zone of proportional-derivative (PD) controller parameters for directional stability is shown, which can be a reference for course keeping operation when sailing near a bank.     

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.     

Identification of hydrodynamic coefficients in ship maneuvering equations of motion by Estimation-Before-Modeling technique

Estimation-Before-Modeling (EBM) technique (or the two-step method) is a system identification method that estimates parameters in a dynamic model. Given sea trial data, the extended Kalman filter and modified Bryson–Frazier smoother can be used to estimate motion variables, hydrodynamic force, and the speed and the direction of current. And using these estimated data, we can use the ridge regression method to estimate the hydrodynamic coefficients in a model. An identifiable state space model is constructed in case that current effect is included and the maneuvering characteristics of a ship are analyzed by correlation analysis. To better identify hydrodynamic coefficients, we suggest the sub-optimal input scenario that considers the D-optimal criterion. Finally, the algorithm is confirmed against real sea trial data of 113K tanker.     

Studies on Stochastic Parametric Roll of Ship with Stochastic Averaging Method

The paper studies the parametric stochastic roll motion in the random waves. The differential equation of the ship parametric roll under random wave is established with considering the nonlinear damping and ship speed. Random sea surface is treated as a narrow-band stochastic process, and the stochastic parametric excitation is studied based on the effective wave theory. The nonlinear restored arm function obtained from the numerical simulation is expressed as the approximate analytic function. By using the stochastic averaging method, the differential equation of motion is transformed into Ito's stochastic differential equation. The steady-state probability density function of roll motion is obtained, and the results are validated with the numerical simulation and model test.     

A Study on the Maneuvering Motion of a Low Speed Submersible

In this paper,the maneuvering characteristics of a low speed submersible are investigated.First,the captive model tests are carried out to obtain the hydrodynamic forces acting on the submersibleusing a Planar Motion Mechanism(PMM).For the hydrodynamic forces within a wide range of attack an-gles,the hydrodynamic coefficients which are usually used in the conventional maneuvering motion arequite difficult to be applied.In this case,a Fourier series is adopted to represent the hydrodynamic forcesand it fits the experimental data well.Then,based on the experimental results the simulation calculationsare made to predict some of the maneuvering performance of the low speed submersible.     

The application of the self-tuning neural network PID controller on the ship roll reduction in random waves

In this paper, we present a mathematical model including seakeeping and maneuvering characteristics to analyze the roll reduction for a ship traveling with the stabilizer fin in random waves. The self-tuning PID controller based on the neural network theory is applied to adjust optimal stabilizer fin angles to reduce the ship roll motion in waves. Two multilayer neural networks, including the system identification neural network (NN1) and the parameter self-tuning neural network (NN2), are adopted in the study. The present control technique can save the time for searching the optimal PID gains in any sea states. The simulation results show that the present developed self-tuning PID control scheme based on the neural network theory is indeed quite practical and sufficient for the ship roll reduction in the realistic sea.     

Control of ship roll using passive and active anti-roll tanks

We numerically studied the full (six degrees of freedom) motion of a cargo ship without roll stabilizers in rough (sea state 5) conditions for multiple heading angles ranging from 0° (follower seas) to 180° (head seas). We found that the ship exhibits excessive roll motion in quartering (45° off the stern), beam, and head seas. Therefore, roll damping is critical in these conditions. We then investigated the performance of passive and active anti-roll tank (ART) systems and compared their performance in each of the three sea conditions. Each ART consists of three identical tanks, distributed along the centerline of the ship, each of which consists of two vertical ducts connected at the bottom with a horizontal duct. A pump is located at the middle of the horizontal duct of each tank. The pumps are switched on for active ARTs but switched off for passive ones. The loads (forces and moments) exerted on the ship by the ARTs are added to the hydrodynamic loads (e.g., due to pressure and viscous effects) and the thrust in the governing equations of motion of the ship. Whereas both passive and active ARTs are able to reduce the excessive roll motion, active ARTs outperform the passive ones from three perspectives. First, they are more effective in reducing the roll motion. Second, they require much less working liquid. Third, their performance is insensitive to their natural frequencies and, hence, to their geometric design. In addition, we found that head seas are most responsive to ARTs, which suggests that they are effective in mitigating parametric roll.     

非通航孔桥墩自适应拦截网防撞装置实船拦截试验与水动力计算

针对非通航孔桥墩,研发了一种自适应拦截网防船舶撞击装置,主要由系泊大浮体、系泊锚链和固定锚、自适应小浮筒、拦截网、恒阻力缆绳以及触发钢索所组成。阐述了该防撞装置设计原理,即偏航船舶撞击该防撞装置,小浮筒会带动拦截网自适应地从水平状态竖起展开,包裹住来撞船首,再通过相连浮体的运动阻力和恒阻力缆绳来吸收船舶动能,拦截住船舶,保护非通航孔桥墩安全。随后介绍在福建平潭海峡大桥引桥附近海域实施的实船撞击自适应拦截网防撞装置的大型试验,试验结果显示:自适应拦截网成功升起,船舶被安全拦截,从而实验证实了设计原理与设计方案的可行性和可靠性。最后,采用大型水动力分析软件AQWA对防撞装置拦截船舶过程进行数值模拟,模拟结果与实验结果基本一致,说明了数值仿真具有较好的计算精度和可靠性,能够为该防撞装置的结构设计与优化提供重要的参考。     

Numerical prediction of hydrodynamic forces on a berthed ship induced by a passing ship in different waterway geometries

An investigation has been conducted to quantify the effect of waterway geometry on the form and magnitude of forces and moment experienced by a berthed ship due to a passing ship.By using the dynamic mesh technique and solving the unsteady RANS equations in conjunction with a RNG k?ε turbulence model,numerical simulation of the three-dimensional unsteady viscous flow around a passing ship and a berthed ship in different waterway geometries is conducted,and the hydrodynamic forces and moment acting on the berthed ship are calculated.The proposed method is verified by comparing the numerical results with existing empirical curves and a selection of results from model scale experiments.The calculated interaction forces and moment are presented for six different waterway geometries.The magnitude of the peak values and the form of the forces and moment on the berthed ship for different cases are investigated to assess the effect of the waterway geometry.The results of present study can provide certain guidance on safe maneuvering of a ship passing by a berthed ship.     

Numerical analysis on ship maneuvering coupled with ship motion in waves

This paper considers a numerical analysis of ship maneuvering performance in the presence of incident waves and resultant ship motion responses. To this end, a time-domain ship motion program is developed to solve the wave–body interaction problem with the ship slip speed and rotation, and it is coupled with a modular-type 4-DOF maneuvering problem. In this coupled problem, the second-order mean drift force, which can play an important role in the ship maneuvering trajectory, is estimated by using a direct pressure integration method. The developed method is validated by observing the second-order mean drift force, and planar trajectories in maneuvering tests with and without the presence of incident waves. The comparisons are made for two ship models, Series 60 with block coefficient 0.7 and the S-175 containership, with existing experimental data. The maneuvering tests observed in this study include a zig-zag test in calm water, and turning tests in calm water and in regular waves. The present results show a fair agreement of overall tendency in maneuvering trajectories.     

System identification for nonlinear maneuvering of large tankers using artificial neural network

This paper deals with the application of nonparametric system identification to a nonlinear maneuvering model for large tankers using artificial neural network method. The three coupled maneuvering equations in this model for large tankers contain linear and nonlinear terms and instead of attempting to determine the parameters (i.e. hydrodynamic derivatives) associated with nonlinear terms, all nonlinear terms are clubbed together to form one unknown time function per equation which are sought to be represented by the neural network coefficients. The time series used in training the network are obtained from simulated data of zigzag maneuvers and the proposed method has been applied to these data. The neural network scheme adopted in this work has one middle or hidden layer of neurons and it employs the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm. Using the best choices for the number of hidden layer neurons, length of training data, convergence tolerance etc., the performance of the proposed neural network model has been investigated and conclusions drawn.     

Hydrodynamic derivatives and motion response of a submersible surface ship in unbounded water

A submersible surface ship (SSS) is based on a novel concept that the SSS goes on surface like conventional ships in moderate seas but goes underwater in rough seas to the depth sufficient to avoid wave effects. The SSS has a wing system that produces downward lift to go underwater with preserving the residual buoyancy for its safety. The SSS is expected to be able to keep both safety and punctuality even if it encounters unexpected bad weather.The motion of the SSS is studied. The equations of motion are formulated and the procedures for estimating hydrodynamic derivatives are presented. The hydrodynamic derivatives are estimated for a SSS having a configuration, a hull with a pair of main wings and a pair of horizontal tail wings. Using these estimated hydrodynamic derivatives, calculation of the SSS motion is carried out.The calculation results show some specific aspects of the SSS especially for effects of the elevator of main wings and horizontal tail wings, aileron of main wings, rudder and propeller revolution. It is confirmed that the existence of static roll restoring moment and having large hull comparing with wing area play important roles in the motion of the SSS.     

MOSES软件在系泊浮体运动计算中的应用研究

采用MOSES软件计算某起重船迎浪下的水动力性能和运动响应,并对该船进行缩尺比为1:50的模型试验。通过软件计算结果和试验结果的对比,分析计算模型的网格划分、二阶波浪力计算方法和粘性阻尼等关键参数的选取对MOSES计算系泊浮体运动的影响,为MOSES软件在系泊下运动计算方面提出建议。