Stability Evaluations of Semi-Submersible Heavy Transport Vessels by a Progressive Flooding Simulation Tool

Author(s):  
Hendrik Dankowski ◽  
Hannes Hatecke

Rising needs for heavy transport operations are intensified by the expanding offshore industry worldwide. Whenever very large and heavy objects have to be transported, only semi-submersible heavy transport vessels are capable of carrying this special cargo. Accidents in the past during operations of these vessels highlight the requirement of analyzing the operation procedures in more detail. Especially the submerging process of the main working deck is very critical regarding the hydrostatic stability. A new numerical progressive flooding simulation method will be presented for applications like accident investigations or damage stability assessments. This method is modified to fit the special requirements of simulating the operational behavior of semi-submersible vessels in the time-domain. A direct approach is chosen, which computes the flux between the compartments based on the Bernoulli equation and the current pressure heads at each intermediate step. Losses due to viscous effects are taken into account by empirical discharge coefficients. This method will be used to simulate the submerging operation in the time-domain to point out critical situations regarding the stability of the vessels and the cargo. This will be compared to accidents which occurred in the past. Furthermore, recommendations for operational procedures are proposed.

Author(s):  
Hendrik Dankowski ◽  
Hendrik Dilger

The semi-submersible heavy-lift vessel Mighty Servant 3 sank off the port of Luanda, Angola in the morning of December 6th, 2006 during a ballast operation to offload the drilling platform Aleutian Key. The official investigations carried out after the accident identified an error in the control of the submerging ballast operations as the direct cause of the sinking. However, the detailed phenomenons and reasons for the sudden excessive trim development has not been investigated further. This paper intends to identify the most likely sceneario which lead to the hydrostatic stability failure during the discharge operation by computing the flooding process during the ballast operation in the time domain. A numerical progressive flooding simulation method is presented for applications like accident investigations or damage stability assessments. This method is modified to fit the special requirements of simulating the operational procedures of semi-submersible vessels in the time domain. Extensions like the inclusion of pump elements but also the multi-body interaction of the cargo and the vessel with regard to the hydrostatics is presented. The direct flooding simulation computes the flux between the compartments based on the Bernoulli equation and the current pressure heads at each intermediate step. Large and partly flooded holes are taken into account as well as optional air compression and flooding through completely filled rooms. Pressure losses due to viscous effects are taken into account by applying semi-empirical discharge coefficients to each opening. The flooding paths are modeled by directed graphs. A detailed investigation of the Mighty Servant 3 accident and an identification of the possible failure modes leading to the sinking of the vessel is presented. This will help to better understand the phenomenons leading to critical situations during the submerging procedure of semi-submersible heavy-lift vessels and to avoid such accidents in the future. Applying time domain flooding simulations allows to predict the ship behavior during ballast operations to identify critical situations and to better schedule the different steps of such an operation in advance.


2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (S285) ◽  
pp. 141-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. G. Djorgovski ◽  
A. A. Mahabal ◽  
A. J. Drake ◽  
M. J. Graham ◽  
C. Donalek ◽  
...  

AbstractSynoptic sky surveys are becoming the largest data generators in astronomy, and they are opening a new research frontier that touches practically every field of astronomy. Opening the time domain to a systematic exploration will strengthen our understanding of a number of interesting known phenomena, and may lead to the discoveries of as yet unknown ones. We describe some lessons learned over the past decade, and offer some ideas that may guide strategic considerations in the planning and execution of future synoptic sky surveys.


Author(s):  
Ge´rson B. Matter ◽  
Joel S. Sales ◽  
Sergio H. Sphaier

The paper deals with the dynamics of floating systems (FPSO units) moored in deep water in the presence of currents. The offloading operation is carried out in a tandem arrangement from the FPSO to a Shuttle ship of lesser capacity. According to the classical theory of dynamic systems, a study of the behavior of floating units is performed by determining the equilibrium position and then analyzing the stability around this position. The time domain analysis is also used to compare the results. This procedure is extended to the case of systems in a spread mooring configuration and with turret.


Mechanik ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 90 (11) ◽  
pp. 965-967
Author(s):  
Piotr Andrzej Bąk ◽  
Krzysztof Jemielniak

Self-excited vibrations significantly reduce the milling productivity, deteriorate the quality of machined surface and tool life. One of the ways to avoid these vibrations is to modify the cutting parameters based on the stability analysis results. A method of numerical simulation of self-excited vibrations in the time domain can be used for this purpose. A comparison of numerical simulation results with those from experiments conducted using a milling machine is presented. The results confirm the correctness of applied modeling.


Aviation ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-13
Author(s):  
Peter Chudý ◽  
Vladimír Daněk

This paper presents the work performed by the Institute of Aerospace Engineering at the Brno University of Technology. The purpose of the project was to compare the results obtained from classical analytical solutions and a complex numerical simulation of an airplane's aero elastic response. Compared to the analytical solution, which reduces the entire process to a straightforward manipulation with time‐proven graphs and tables, the numerical simulation offers a more complex description of the dynamic processes. A complex simulation, in contrast to the analytical solution providing us with only one estimated parameter, allows monitoring selected quantities in the time domain, thus giving us a tool for a visual qualification of the investigated process. In the past, dynamic aeroelastic properties were estimated utilizing simplified stick beam models. The desire for more complex aero elastic simulations led to the concept of the advanced aero elastic model, coupling advanced 3D structural FEM models with proven aerodynamic theory in the form of the DLM panel method.


2006 ◽  
Vol 50 (01) ◽  
pp. 15-30
Author(s):  
D. S. Holloway ◽  
M. R. Davis

High-speed strip theories are discussed, and a time domain formulation making use of a fixed reference frame for the two-dimensional fluid motion is described in detail. This, and classical (low-speed) strip theory, are compared with the experimental results of Wellicome et al. (1995) up to a Froude number of 0.8, as well as with our own test data for a semi-SWATH, demonstrating the marked improvement of the predictions of the former at high speeds, while the need to account for modest viscous effects at these speeds is also argued. A significant contribution to time domain computations is a method of stabilizing the integration of the ship's equations of motion, which are inherently unstable due to feedback from implicit added mass components of the hydrodynamic force. The time domain high-speed theory is recommended as a practical alternative to three-dimensional methods. It also facilitates the investigation of large-amplitude motions with stern or bow emergence and forms a simulation base for the investigation of ride control systems and local or global loads.


2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-189
Author(s):  
Peter Hippe

Regular design equations for the discrete reduced-order Kalman filter In the presence of white Gaussian noises at the input and the output of a system Kalman filters provide a minimum-variance state estimate. When part of the measurements can be regarded as noise-free, the order of the filter is reduced. The filter design can be carried out both in the time domain and in the frequency domain. In the case of full-order filters all measurements are corrupted by noise and therefore the design equations are regular. In the presence of noise-free measurements, however, they are not regular so that standard software cannot readily be applied in a time-domain design. In the frequency domain the spectral factorization of the non-regular polynomial matrix equation causes no problems. However, the known proof of optimality of the factorization result requires a regular measurement covariance matrix. This paper presents regular (reduced-order) design equations for the reduced-order discrete-time Kalman filter in the time and in the frequency domains so that standard software is applicable. They also allow to formulate the conditions for the stability of the filter and to prove the optimality of the existing solutions.


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