Impact of Automation to Maritime Technology

Abstract-Due to incredibly advancing technology and reduced manning levels in the maritime industry there is now a cultural shift in the maritime industry toward increased levels of automation in tasks, particularly with regard to navigation systems. But there are two sides to the automation advances. Increasing automation causes the loss of situation awareness, which can significantly affect performance in abnormal, timecritical circumstances. This paper presents an overview of the application of automation in marine system and its impact to the system's performance

Monitoring and Analysis of Wave Characteristics during Pipeline End Termination Installation

Pipeline end termination (PLET) installation is an essential part of offshore pipe-laying operation. Pipe-laying operations are sensitive to pipe-laying barge motion and marine environmental conditions. Monitoring the field environment can provide a reasonable basis for planning pipe-laying. Therefore, the measurement and analysis of sea wave motion is helpful for the control and operational safety of the pipeline and vessels. In this study, an environmental monitoring system was established to measure wave motion during PLET operation. Fourier transforms were used to process images that were acquired by ultra-high-frequency X-band marine radar to extract wave parameters. The resulting wave spectra, as measured each minute, were used to simulate real-time wave data and calculate wave characteristics and regressed wave frequency and direction spectrum throughout the PLET operation. The regressed frequency, spectral density, and direction spectra were compared with the theoretical spectra to evaluate their similarity and find the most similar spreading function in the operational area (the South China Sea). Gaussian fitting of real-time wave data was tested while using a classical method. The marginal distribution and joint density of the wave characteristics were estimated and then compared with theoretical distributions to find the most suitable model for improving marine environmental forecasting

Multi-Grid Model for Crowd’s Evacuation in Ships Based on Cellular Automata

In order to enhance the authenticity and accuracy simulation of passengers’ evacuation in ships, a new multi-grid model is proposed on the basis of cellular automata theory. By finer lattice the multi-grid model could enhance the continuity of passengers’ track and the precision of boundary’s qualification compared with traditional cellular automata model. Attraction, repulsion and friction are also quantized in the multi-grid model to present the impact of interaction force among pedestrians. Furthermore, crowd’s evacuation simulated by traditional cellular automata and multi-grid model in single exit room and typical cabin environment have been taken as examples to analyze crowd’s motion laws. It is found that the laws of passengers’ evacuation simulated by the two models are similar, and the simulation authenticity and accuracy is enhanced by the multi-grid model

The Effect of Rise Angle of V-Hull Non Ballast Ship on Seakeeping Performance

In this paper a new concept in ship design was used to be alternative of ballast water system, to emerge that remedy the introduction of invasive marine species and the disadvantages of ballast water treatment systems. Thus, the hydrodynamic influences due to hull line variation of this kind of ships were studied, using the invariant cross-section area curve under the design draft to change the rise angle at bottom. Then numerical calculation was used to get the seakeeping at each angle. Two 3D models were constructed for 59000 DWT oil tankers and 35000 DWT bulk carriers, where the result of the bulk carrier was exposed

The Effect of Rise Angle of V-Hull Non Ballast Ship on Seakeeping Performance

In this paper a new concept in ship design was used to be alternative of ballast water system, to emerge that remedy the introduction of invasive marine species and the disadvantages of ballast water treatment systems. Thus, the hydrodynamic influences due to hull line variation of this kind of ships were studied, using the invariant cross-section area curve under the design draft to change the rise angle at bottom. Then numerical calculation was used to get the seakeeping at each angle. Two 3D models were constructed for 59000 DWT oil tankers and 35000 DWT bulk carriers, where the result of the bulk carrier was exposed

Advanced Underwater Measurement System for ROVs: Integrating Sonar and Stereo Vision for Enhanced Subsea Infrastructure Maintenance

In the realm of ocean engineering and maintenance of subsea structures, accurate underwater distance quantification plays a crucial role. However, the precision of such measurements is often compromised in underwater environments due to backward scattering and feature degradation, adversely affecting the accuracy of visual techniques. Addressing this challenge, our study introduces a groundbreaking method for underwater object measurement, innovatively combining image sonar with stereo vision. This approach aims to supplement the gaps in underwater visual feature detection with sonar data while leveraging the distance information from sonar for enhanced visual matching. Our methodology seamlessly integrates sonar data into the Semi-Global Block Matching (SGBM) algorithm used in stereo vision. This integration involves introducing a novel sonar-based cost term and refining the cost aggregation process, thereby both elevating the precision in depth estimations and enriching the texture details within the depth maps. This represents a substantial enhancement over existing methodologies, particularly in the texture augmentation of depth maps tailored for subaquatic environments. Through extensive comparative analyses, our approach demonstrates a substantial reduction in measurement errors by 1.6%, showing significant promise in challenging underwater scenarios. The adaptability and accuracy of our algorithm in generating detailed depth maps make it particularly relevant for underwater infrastructure maintenance, exploration, and inspection

Nonlinear wave surface elevation around a multi-column offshore structure

Surface elevation around multiple column offshore structure is an important phenomenon crucial to air gap design of offshore platforms. This paper investigates the competing hydrodynamic phenomena, i.e., wave run-up of surface elevation rising along the column and near-trapping – the increase of surface elevation due to near-resonance among the columns. Both wave run-up and near-trapping have the characteristics of generating surface elevation peak and often impact the offshore structures with nonlinear wave loads and potentially cause slamming to platforms. With the free-surface Keulegan-Carpenter number Kc<O(1) and wave steepness H/L < 0.14 considered, the free surface amplitude primarily depends on the diffraction pattern caused by the multiple columns and potential theory is applicable. The wave run-up and near-trapping due to wave interaction with a platform consisting of four-square columns with different corner ratios are obtained by numerical simulations. It is found that the increasing corner ratio results in a lower wave run-up under 0° incident wave, but a higher wave run-up under 45° incident wave. For near-trapping among four columns, the peak surface elevation decreases with increasing corner ratio. Two mechanisms namely superposition and near-resonance resulting the peak surface elevation are examined in detail for wave interaction with multiple columns

Numerical investigation of ice plate fractures upon rigid ball impact

The fracture process and breaking capability of ice cover impacted by high-speed projectiles before underwater explosion is an urgent subject of scientific research in ice engineering applications. This paper presents the results of numerical simulations of the dynamic fracture behaviour induced by the impact of a small spherical projectile on an ice plate. The proposed 3D rate-dependent peridynamics model is validated by the dynamic ring Brazilian disc testing of ice specimens. Good agreements between the present model and the previous experiments are obtained in ice breaking processes and damage patterns of thin, medium and thick ice plates. Several cases are analysed and discussed in terms of various impact velocities, ice thicknesses, and boundary constraint conditions. The simulations identify detailed fracturing characteristics that are not observed in experiments, including the sequence and shape of crack propagation in a short time interval, the crater formation and the damage evolution along the thickness direction. The proposed peridynamics computational model provides new understanding of the potential of using penetrator–ice block impact tests to observe the evolution of complex brittle damage and reveal the failure mechanism