A Thrust Allocation Method for Efficient Dynamic Positioning of a Semisubmersible Drilling Rig Based on the Hybrid Optimization Algorithm

A thrust allocation method was proposed based on a hybrid optimization algorithm to efficiently and dynamically position a semisubmersible drilling rig. That is, the thrust allocation was optimized to produce the generalized forces and moment required while at the same time minimizing the total power consumption under the premise that forbidden zones should be taken into account. An optimization problem was mathematically formulated to provide the optimal thrust allocation by introducing the corresponding design variables, objective function, and constraints. A hybrid optimization algorithm consisting of a genetic algorithm and a sequential quadratic programming (SQP) algorithm was selected and used to solve this problem. The proposed method was evaluated by applying it to a thrust allocation problem for a semisubmersible drilling rig. The results indicate that the proposed method can be used as part of a cost-effective strategy for thrust allocation of the rig

Implementation of the submarine diving simulation in a distributed environment

ABSTRACTTo implement a combined discrete event and discrete time simulation such as submarine diving simulation in a distributed environment, e.g., in the High Level Architecture (HLA)/Run-Time Infrastructure (RTI), a HLA interface, which can easily connect combined models with the HLA/RTI, was developed in this study. To verify the function and performance of the HLA interface, it was applied to the submarine dive scenario in a distributed environment, and the distributed simulation shows the same results as the stand-alone simulation. Finally, by adding a visualization model to the simulation and by editing this model, we can confirm that the HLA interface can provide user-friendly functions such as adding new model and editing a model

A block transportation scheduling system considering a minimisation of travel distance without loading of and interference between multiple transporters

Material transportation scheduling problems concerning scheduling optimisation have been extensively investigated by researchers in such fields as industrial engineering and management science. Various algorithms have been proposed to solve such problems. However, the majority of these algorithms cannot be applied to a block transportation problem when a shipyard that uses a transporter, a large vehicle employed for moving weight, is considered. In this study, a hybrid optimisation algorithm is proposed for solving a block transportation problem when multiple transporters are used. With regards to the transporters, a minimisation of the travel distance without loading of and interference between the transporters is considered. A block transportation scheduling system is then developed based on the proposed algorithm. The developed system is applied to an actual block transportation scheduling problem of a shipyard. From the attained results, we demonstrate that the proposed algorithm has the ability to effectively solve the block transportation scheduling problems of a shipyard.KANG YW, 2005, P ANN AUT M SOC NAV, P513Tsai CY, 2008, INT J PROD RES, V46, P6533, DOI 10.1080/00207540701441947Tanaka S, 2009, INT J PROD RES, V47, P2391, DOI 10.1080/00207540701644177YU HK, 2005, THESIS U ULSAN KOREAKoo PH, 2004, OR SPECTRUM, V26, P193, DOI 10.1007/s00291-003-0152-4Curry GL, 2003, INT J PROD RES, V41, P3901, DOI 10.1080/0020754031000149293DORIGO M, 1996, IEEE T SYST MAN CY B, V26, P1DAVIS L, 1991, HDB GENETIC ALGORITHDORIGO M, 1991, 91016 DIP EL POL MILMCHUGH JA, 1990, ALGORITHM GRAPH THEOGOLDBERG DT, 1989, GENETIC ALGORITHMS SJOO CM, 2005, P ANN SPRING M KOR O, P348GREFENSTETTE JJ, 1986, IEEE T SYST MAN CYB, V16, P122REKLAITIS G, 1983, ENG OPTIMIZATION METMAXWELL WL, 1982, IIE TRANS, V14, P114GILL PE, 1981, PRACTICAL OPTIMIZATICOHON JL, 1978, MULTIOBJECTIVE PROGR

Optimal dimension design of a hatch cover for lightening a bulk carrier

: According to the increase of the operating cost and material cost of a ship due to the change of international oil price, a demand for the lightening of the ship weight is being made from various parties such as shipping companies, ship owners, and shipyards. To satisfy such demand, many studies for a light ship are being made. As one of them, an optimal design method of an existing hull structure, that is, a method for lightening the ship weight based on the optimization technique was proposed in this study. For this, we selected a hatch cover of a bulk carrier as an optimization target and formulated an optimization problem in order to determine optimal principal dimensions of the hatch cover for lightening the bulk carrier. Some dimensions representing the shape of the hatch cover were selected as design variables and some design considerations related to the maximum stress, maximum deflection, and geometry of the hatch cover were selected as constraints. In addition, the minimization of the weight of the hatch cover was selected as an objective function. To solve this optimization problem, we developed an optimization program based on the Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) using C++ programming language. To evaluate the applicability of the developed program, it was applied to a problem for finding optimal principal dimensions of the hatch cover of a deadweight 180,000 ton bulk carrier. The result shows that the developed program can decrease the hatch cover's weight by about 8.5%. Thus, this study will be able to contribute to make energy saving and environment-friendly ship in shipyard

Design of controller for mobile robot in welding process of shipbuilding engineering

The present study describes the development of control hardware and software for a mobile welding robot. This robot is able to move and perform welding tasks in a double hull structure. The control hardware consists of a main controller and a welding machine controller. Control software consists of four layers. Each layer consists of modules. Suitable combinations of modules enable the control software to perform the required tasks. Control software is developed using C programming under QNX operating system. For the modularizing architecture of control software, we designed control software with four layers: Task Manager, Task Planner, Actions for Task, and Task Executer. The embedded controller and control software was applied to the mobile welding robot for successful execution of the required tasks. For evaluate this imbedded controller and control software, the field tests are conducted, it is confirmed that the developed imbedded controller of mobile welding robot for shipyard is well designed and implemented

Passenger evacuation simulation considering the heeling angle change during sinking

In order to simulate the evacuation simulation of a ship during a sinking, the slope angle change of the ship must be reflected during the simulation. In this study, the passenger evacuation simulation is implemented by continuously applying the heeling angle change during sinking. To reflect crowd behavior, the human density and the congestion algorithm were developed in this research and the walking speed experiment in the special situation occurring in the inclined ship was conducted. Evacuation simulation was carried out by applying the experimental results and the change of the walking speed according to the heeling angle of the ship. In order to verify the evacuation simulation, test items suggested by International Maritime Organization (IMO) and SAFEGUARD Validation Data Set conducted on a large Ro-PAX ferry (SGVDS 1) which performed real evacuation trial in full-scale ships were performed and the results of simulation were analyzed. Based on hypothetical scenario of when a normal evacuation command is delivered to the passengers of MV SEWOL in time, we predicted and analyzed the evacuation process and the number of casualties. Keywords: Advanced evacuation analysis, Heeling angle change, Walking speed experiment, MV SEWOL, UNIT

Event-based scenario manager for multibody dynamics simulation of heavy load lifting operations in shipyards

This paper suggests an event-based scenario manager capable of creating and editing a scenario for shipbuilding process simulation based on multibody dynamics. To configure various situation in shipyards and easily connect with multibody dynamics, the proposed method has two main concepts: an Actor and an Action List. The Actor represents the anatomic unit of action in the multibody dynamics and can be connected to a specific component of the dynamics kernel such as the body and joint. The user can make a scenario up by combining the actors. The Action List contains information for arranging and executing the actors. Since the shipbuilding process is a kind of event-based sequence, all simulation models were configured using Discrete EVent System Specification (DEVS) formalism. The proposed method was applied to simulations of various operations in shipyards such as lifting and erection of a block and heavy load lifting operation using multiple cranes