Development of the collision ratio to infer the time at which to begin a collision avoidance of a ship

A prior study attempted to solve the intrinsic problem of a critical collision condition including the slower ship’s dilemma by considering the maneuverability of the own ship and the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs). The collision ratio proposed in the previous study provided insight into the solution of the intrinsic problem, but it was not suitable as an index to determine the time at which to begin the maneuver to avoid the collision.This paper develops a collision ratio as an index that can be used to determine the time at which to begin the collision avoidance maneuver. The collision ratio is calculated by considering the maneuverability of the own ship, the COLREGs, and three virtual intrusion domains (VIDs). The validity of the inferred collision ratio is then assessed according to the dynamic characteristics of the own ship and the basic knowledge of the collision avoidance algorithm. The results indicate that the proposed collision ratio is suitable for use as a new index to determine the time at which to begin the collision avoidance maneuver.     

跨海桥梁船撞风险综合评估

近年来全世界范围内船撞桥事故时常发生,尤其是大型跨海桥梁,对其进行合理的船撞桥风险评估逐渐成为桥梁安全运营的重要保障之一。通过对近年国内外船撞桥案例调研分析,确定了影响事故的多重因素,建立包括4个二级风险评价指标和18个三级指标的层次化评价指标体系,并运用层次分析（AHP）法和熵权法,对各评价指标进行主客观综合赋权,明确各个风险因素对船舶撞击的重要性程度,基于模糊数学理论对船撞桥风险进行多层次综合评判。以浙江省舟山朱家尖跨海大桥为工程背景,结合该桥某年船舶通航统计数据,运用上述方法进行船撞桥风险评估,计算表明朱家尖跨海大桥平均风险评价值为4.22,属于可接受中风险水平,并提出了相应的风险控制对策及措施。     

Automatic collision avoidance of multiple ships based on deep Q-learning

As the number of ships for marine transportation increases with the globalisation of the world economy, waterways are becoming more congested than before. This situation will raise the risk of collision of the ships; hence, an automatic collision avoidance system needs to be developed. In this paper, a novel approach based on deep reinforcement learning (DRL) is proposed for automatic collision avoidance of multiple ships particularly in restricted waters. A training method and algorithms for collision avoidance of ships, incorporating ship manoeuvrability, human experience and navigation rules, are presented in detail. The proposed approach is investigated not only by numerical simulations but also by model experiments using three self-propelled ships. Through the systematic numerical and experimental validation, it is demonstrated the developed approach based on the DRL has great possibility for realising automatic collision avoidance of ships in highly complicated navigational situations.     

A neural network approach to ship track-keeping control

This paper presents an on-line trained neural net work controller for ship track-keeping problems. Following a brief review of the ship track-keeping control development since the 1980's, an analysis of various existing backpropagation-based neural controllers is provided. We then propose a single-input multioutput (SIMO) neural control strategy for situations where the exact mathematical dynamics of the ship are not available. The aim of this study is to build an autonomous neural controller which uses rudder to regulate both the tracking error and heading error. During the whole control process, the proposed SIMO neural controller adapts itself on-line from a direct evaluation of the control accuracy, and hence the need for a “teacher” or an off-line training process can be removed. With a relatively modest amount of quantitative knowledge of the ship behavior, the design philosophy enables real time control of a nonlinear ship model under random wind disturbances and measurement noise. Three different track-keeping tasks have been simulated to demonstrate the effectiveness of the training method and the robust performance of the proposed neural control strategy     

A rational approach to intact ship stability assessment

In this study, asymptotic and total stability of the non-linear free and forced pure rolling motions of a ship are investigated. A ship performing a rolling motion is taken as a dynamical system. Lyapunov's direct method is employed in the analysis. By generating a time-invariant Lyapunov function, conditions and the domain of asymptotic stability are obtained for free rolling motion. Results of the work on “boundedness” and “uniform boundedness” of the solutions of the equation of forced rolling motion, done by Özkan (1977), that is, conditions of total (practical) stability and its domain in the phase-plane are given and illustrated.     

Effect of ship structure and size on grounding and collision damage distributions

It has been argued that a major shortcoming in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Interim Guidelines for Approval of Alternative Methods of Design and Construction of Oil Tankers in Collision and Grounding is that grounding and collision damages normalized by the main dimensions of the ship have the same probability density distributions regardless of a particular structural design and ship size.The present paper explores analytical methods for assessing the overall effect of structural design on the damage distributions in accidental grounding and collisions. The results are expressed in simple expressions involving structural dimensions and the building material of the ships. The study shows that the density distribution for collision and grounding damages normalized by the main dimensions of the ship depends on the size of the ship. A larger ship has a higher probability of a larger relative damage length than that of a smaller ship in grounding damage. On the other hand, the damages to the side structure caused by ship collisions are found to be relatively smaller for large ships.The main conclusion is that the existing IMO damage distributions will severely underestimate the grounding damages to the bottom structure of larger vessels and to a lesser extent overestimate collision damages to the side structure of the hull.     

A comparative study of numerical simulations for fluid–structure interaction of liquid-filled tank during ship collision

Although International Maritime Organization (IMO) has taken many measures to minimize ship collisions, ships carrying liquid cargo sometimes do get struck by other vessels. The outflow of crude oil causes very serious consequences to the environment. In such cases it is necessary to analyze the response of structure of struck liquid cargo-filled tank to account for fluid–structure interaction accurately. In this paper, numerical simulation of collision between a container ship with double hull very large crude carrier (VLCC) is presented. Three different numerical simulation mothods were adopted to model fluid–structure interaction in liquid-filled cargo tank, namely arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian finite element method, Lagrangian finite element method and linear sloshing model. The numerical simulation results reveal that the fluid–structure interaction of liquid cargo-filled tank has a significant effect on the motion and structural response of the struck cargo tank. Compared with the calculation results of ALE FE method, the linear sloshing model underestimates the influence of fluid–structure interaction of liquid cargo tank while the Lagrangian–Eulerian finite element method may be considered as the practical method for engineering applications as it provided more reasonable results with a relatively low central processing unit (CPU) time.     

海上事故有害气体的扩散研究 ——以"桑吉"轮撞船事故为例

发生海上事故后,为对周边海域船只和人员进行疏散及为应急处置提供科学依据,并实现对不同检测位置检测浓度的校正,需要对事故有毒有害气体的扩散进行计算。本文先通过经验公式计算,模拟事故船舶自然燃烧,而后采用高斯烟羽模型,通过结合事故现场的风浪等水文气象参数,构建海上事故有毒有害气体扩散模型。该模型在改进的高斯烟羽模型的基础上,通过与 ArcGIS 结合,实现事故海域区域范围内有害气体扩散定量可视化,实验结果表明,“桑吉”轮撞事故中,有害气体沿向下风向西北处扩散,以事故点为起点向西北方向划线为轴线,宽幅选取 4 km 范围,最高浓度区域是以事故点下风向 3 km处为圆心,500 m 为半径的圆形区域,浓度可以达到 4* 10-5 mg/m3,边缘处气体浓度已低至 0.5 * 10-5 mg/m3。其模型简单且可以直观体现有毒有害气体扩散范围。     

A simplified approach to backscattering from a rough seafloor withsediment inhomogeneities

Current models used to predict the backscattering strength of the ocean floor are either very involved, requiring geoacoustic parameters usually unavailable for the site in practical applications, or overly simplistic, relying mainly on empirical terms such as Lambert's law. In any case, solutions are very approximate and the problem is still far from being solved. In this paper, a model is presented that avoids empirical functional forms yet requires only a few physical parameters to describe the surficial sediments, often tabulated for typical sediments. The aim of this paper is to develop a simple algorithm for operational prediction of bottom reverberation with only one free parameter, i.e., the volume scattering coefficient. The algorithm combines a two scale surface scattering model with scattered contributions originating from inhomogeneities within the sediments, talking into consideration the rough interface. No specific mechanism is assumed for scattering at the volume inhomogeneities; however, the inhomogeneities are assumed to be uniform and isotropic. The volume scattering coefficient, combined with the bottom attenuation and density and referenced to the surface, plays a role similar to the Lambert's constant in empirical models. The model is exercised on a variety of published datasets for low and moderately high frequency. In general, the model performs very well for both fast and slow sediments, showing a definite improvement over Lambert's law     

A simplified approach to design fuzzy logic controller for an underwater vehicle

Fuzzy logic controller (FLC) performance is greatly dependent on its inference rules. In most cases, the more rules being applied to an FLC, the accuracy of the control action is enhanced. Nevertheless, a large set of rules requires more computation time. As a result, an FLC implementation requires fast and high performance processors. This paper describes a simplified control scheme to design a fuzzy logic controller (FLC) for an underwater vehicle namely, deep submergence rescue vehicle (DSRV). The proposed method, known as the single input fuzzy logic controller (SIFLC), reduces the conventional two-input FLC (CFLC) to a single input FLC. The SIFLC offers significant reduction in rule inferences and simplifies the tuning process of control parameters. The performance of the proposed controller is validated via simulation by using the marine systems simulator (MSS) on the Matlab/Simulink^® platform. During simulation, the DSRV is subjected to ocean wave disturbances. The results indicate that the SIFLC, Mamdani and Sugeno type CFLC give identical response to the same input sets. However, an SIFLC requires very minimum tuning effort and its execution time is in the orders of two magnitudes less than CFLC.     

船舶碰撞中空夹层钢管混凝土导管架平台损伤分析

针对船舶与中空夹层钢管混凝土（CFDST）导管架平台碰撞问题,利用ABAQUS/Explicit非线性有限元软件建立中空夹层钢管混凝土导管腿导管架数值模型,对船舶碰撞进行数值模拟,对比分析1 m/s、2 m/s和3 m/s的3种碰撞速度下工况下导管架抗碰撞性能、耗能及损伤。从碰撞力、碰撞区域变形以及导管架能量耗散等方面详细研究中空夹层钢管混凝土导管腿作用下导管架整体的损伤模式和动力响应。结果表明：CFDST导管架在船舶碰撞荷载作用下主要由CFDST导管腿耗能,有效控制了结构整体位移变形,提升了整体刚度,有效发挥平台各构件之间组合耗能,结构抗碰撞能力得到明显提升。     

A new approach for the solution of the two-dimensional guillotine-cutting problem in ship production

A new approach has been developed for the arrangement of rectangular pieces in plates for the guillotine-cutting problem as encountered in ship production and similar manufacturing processes. The algorithm is quite novel in the sense that instead of making preliminary specifications and ignoring all the alternative arrangements, as is the case for most of the current models, it selectively considers feasible arrangements by eliminating the majority of the probable arrangements that render the problem insolvable. Intermediate steps of the algorithm produce results which cannot be obtained through integer programming. Losses are distributed to the minimum number of plates. The number of arrangement plans is also minimized. Overall the solution of the problem has been drastically simplified to allow even hand calculations instead of long computer runs.     

The role of material efficiency to reduce CO2 emissions during ship manufacture: A life cycle approach

Low carbon shipping research focuses on energy efficiency and mitigation measures related to operations and technology. However, reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions associated with a vessel’s material production receives limited attention. Material efficiency is defined as “providing material services with less material production and processing”. The current business model for ship building and breaking does not embrace fully material efficiency principles. Exploring a case study of a vessel's steel hull, this study applies a Life Cycle Assessment approach to determine the effectiveness of material efficiency to reduce CO₂ emissions. When compared to Business as Usual, designing and manufacturing for 100% hull reuse provides an emissions reduction of 29% from 221,978 t CO₂ to 158,285 t CO₂; 50% reuse provides a 10% reduction (199,816 t CO₂). From a technical and safety perspective there remain key barriers that need addressing: a vessel’s hull would require to be designed for dismantling to improve reuse; the operation and maintenance schedule must ensure the value of the steel is retained and; data must flow between key stakeholders on the quality of the steel. Despite these challenges, progressing material efficiency would require different business models that reach out and integrate the whole supply chain. There is a need for public and privately funded demonstration projects at a range of scales and markets, to provide investors the confidence that there is retained value in the steel hull when it reaches its end-of-life.     

An optimization approach for fairing of ship hull forms

This paper presents a numerical fairing procedure to be used at the preliminary design stage to create high-quality ship hull form geometry. The procedure is based on a variational optimization approach in which a fairness measure related to the surface curvature is the objective function to be minimized subject to a set of geometric constraints to ensure that the final form has the required geometric characteristics. The optimization variables are selected as the control points of a B-spline surface representing the initial hull form. A nonlinear direct search technique is employed to solve the problem. The methodology is applied for typical ship forms to indicate that, provided that the designer can specify appropriate design objectives and geometric constraints, the methodology can produce alternative hull forms with significantly improved fairing characteristics. The choice of the fairness objective function is shown to have a crucial effect on the quality of the hull surface. Highly nonlinear exact fairness functionals yield surfaces of high quality at the expense of high-computerized effort.     

Calculation of a capsizing rate of a ship in stochastic beam seas

This study introduces a method of calculating a capsizing rate of a ship. The phenomenon ‘capsizing’ is described as a jump of local equilibrium point from that near the upright position of a ship to what describes the upside-down attitude of the capsized ship; the rate of occurrence of such jumps was calculated. The potential function corresponding to the roll restoring moment have two potential wells located at the roll displacement angle 0 and 180°, respectively. A nonlinear Fokker–Planck equation for the joint probability density function of roll angle and velocity was solved. The excitation to the ship was assumed to be a combination of a regular harmonic wave and a white noise process.     

A new heuristic approach to one-dimensional stock-cutting problems with multiple stock lengths in ship production

One-dimensional stock-cutting problem is a commonly encountered problem not only in shipbuilding and construction of coastal structures, but also in other engineering applications related to production and construction. The proposed approach achieves results using cutting patterns directly whereas analytical methods first need to establish a mathematical model. While obtaining ideal solutions of the analytical methods, the new approach limits the wastage to a minimum number of stock materials. In addition, the new approach allows the use of different sized stock materials while it creates various options for the use of single sized stock materials. Use of different sized stock materials broadens the point of view for the solution compared to the use of single sized stock material. Moreover, the new method yields integer results whereas the analytical methods using linear programming usually produce impractical non-integer results. To obtain integer results, the analytical methods need to solve the problem multiple times and screen the alternative solutions.     

European policies on ship recycling: A stakeholder survey

After almost a decade of intensive regulatory activities focused on ship-recycling around the world, special reference is made to combating the problems of ship dismantling practices on the shores of Southern Asian countries. “The Hong Kong International Convention” was adopted in 2009, to provide a uniform shipbreaking management approach. However, in globalised maritime transport, with the majority of shipowners using Open Registries, the European Union has prepared a common approach considering the implementation of a new legal framework. Regulation 1257/2013 implemented by the EU on ship-recycling should be more rigorous than those in the rest of the world. In this article, stakeholder perceptions of this Regulation are presented, based on an online survey. The results show significantly different perceptions in the ship-recycling industry regarding the developing ship-recycling measures within the EU.     

CFD approach to roll damping of ship with bilge keel with experimental validation

The most common method of reducing roll motion of ship-shaped floating systems is the use of bilge keel which act as damping elements. The estimation of the damping introduced by bilge keel is still largely based on empirical methods. The present work adopts the CFD approach to the estimation of roll damping, both without and with bilge keel and validates the results with experiments conducted in a wave flume. Specifically, free oscillation tests are conducted at model scale to obtain roll damping, both by experiments and CFD simulation and reasonably good comparisons are obtained. The experiments also include PIV study of the flow field and attempt has been made to correlate the measured flow field with that obtained by CFD. The CFD methodology has the potential to determine rationally the size and orientation of bilge keels in design with reasonably accurate estimate of the additional roll damping that it provides to ship's roll motion.     

A time-domain prediction method of ship motions

A time-domain analysis is used to predict wave loading and motion responses for a ship traveling at a constant speed in regular oblique waves. Considered as a distribution of normal velocities on the wetted hull surface, the combined diffraction and radiation perturbations caused by the forward moving ship and her motions are determined simultaneously. This way, the ship-hull boundary condition is exactly fulfilled. The 3-D time domain Green's function is used to express the combined diffraction/radiation potential in terms of impulsive and memory potentials. Application of the Bernoulli equation yields the pressure distribution and accordingly, the necessary hydrodynamic forces. The equations of motion of the ship are then developed and solved in the time domain.Forces and motions at forward speed are predicted for a Wigley ship-hull in head waves and for a catamaran-ferry in oblique waves. Comparison is made with published theoretical and experimental results for the Wigley ship-hull, and the agreement is good. For the catamaran, a self-propelled model is built and tested both in a large towing tank and in a seakeeping basin in order to measure the six-degrees-of-freedom forces, moments and motions at forward speed in regular waves of different directions. For the longitudinal motions, the agreement between measurements and predictions is generally good. For the transverse motions, however, acceptable discrepancy exists. The discrepancy is thought to be mainly due to the exclusion from the analysis of the rudder forces and viscous damping. The inclusion of such nonlinear effects in the time domain simulation involves complex analysis and this problem is left to a future research.