RESPONSE OF A HIGH-SPEED WAVE-PIERCING CATAMARAN TO AN ACTIVE RIDE CONTROL SYSTEM

Ride control systems on high-seed vessels are an important design features for improving passenger comfort and reducing motion sickness and dynamic structural loads. To investigate the performance of ride control systems a 2.5m catamaran model based on the 112m INCAT catamaran was tested with an active centre bow mounted T-Foil and two active stern mounted trim tabs. The model was set-up for towing tank tests in calm water to measure the motions response to ride control step inputs. Heave and pitch response were measured when the model was excited by deflections of the T-Foil and the stern tab separately. Appropriate combinations of the control surface deflections were then determined to produce pure heave and pure pitch response. This forms the basis for setting the gains of the ride control system to implement different control algorithms in terms of the heave and pitch motions in encountered waves. A two degree of freedom rigid body analysis was undertaken to theoretically evaluate the experimental results and showed close agreement with the tank test responses. This work gives an insight into the motions control response and forms the basis for future investigations of optimal control algorithms.

LOADING RESPONSE OF STERN TAB MOTION CONTROLS IN SHALLOW WATER

The ride control systems of high-speed vessels frequently use active stern tabs for both motion control and maintenance of correct trim at various speeds and sea conditions. This paper investigates the effect of water depth on the lift force provided by stern mounted trim tabs, of the type fitted to INCAT high speed wave-piercer catamaran vehicle ferries and similar vessels. This investigation was carried out at model scale with the use of a test apparatus in a flume tank in the University of Tasmania hydraulics laboratory. The lift force magnitude and location were measured over a range of tab angles and flow depths. This was used to calculate the lift coefficient of the tab and asses the performance of the tab over the range of flow depths. It was found that the lift force increased and the force location progressed further forward of the hinge as flow depth decreased. The lift curve slope of the stern tab increased by a factor of over 3 relative to the deep water value when the water depth below the hull was approximately equal to the tab chord. The deep water lift curve slope appears to be approached only when the water depth exceeded 4 or more tab chord lengths. The centre of pressure of the lift force was more than two chord lengths ahead of the tab hinge, showing that most of the lift produced by the tab was under the hull rather than on the surface of the tab itself.

FULL-SCALE MOTIONS OF A LARGE HIGH-SPEED CATAMARAN: THE INFLUENCE OF WAVE ENVIRONMENT, SPEED AND RIDE CONTROL SYSTEM

To assess the behaviour of large high-speed catamarans in severe seas, extensive full-scale trials were conducted by the U.S. Navy on an INCAT Tasmania built vessel in the North Sea and North Atlantic region. Systematic testing was done for different speeds, sea states and ride control settings at different headings. Collected data has been used to characterise the ship’s motions and seakeeping performance with respect to wave environment, vessel speed and ride control system. Motion response amplitude operators were derived and compared with results from a two-dimensional Green function time-domain strip theory seakeeping prediction method. An increase of motion response with increasing vessel speed and a decrease with the vessel moving from head to beam seas was found. In higher sea states and headings ahead of beam seas an increasing influence of the centre bow on pitch motion damping was found. Significant motion RAO reduction was also found when the ride control system was active. Its effectiveness increased at higher speeds and contributed to heave and pitch motion RAO reduction. Predicted motion magnitudes with the time domain seakeeping code were consistent with the measured motion responses, but maximum heave was predicted at a rather higher frequency than was evident in the trials.

LOW REYNOLDS NUMBER PERFORMANCE OF A MODEL SCALE T-FOIL

Submerged T-foils are an essential forward component of the ride control systems of high speed ferries. A model scale T-Foil for a 2.5m towing tank model of a 112m INCAT Tasmania high-speed wave-piercer catamaran has been tested for both static and dynamic lift performance. The tests were carried out using a closed-circuit water tunnel to investigate the lift and drag characteristics as well as frequency response of the T-Foil. The model T-Foil operates at a Reynolds number of approximately 105, has an aspect ratio of 3.6 and a planform which is strongly tapered from the inboard to outboard end. All of these factors, as well as strut and pivot interference, influence the steady lift curve slope ( of the model T-foil which was found to be 61% of the value for an ideal aerofoil with elliptic loading. The T-foil dynamic performance was limited primarily by the stepper motor drive system and connection linkage. At the frequency of maximum motion of the 2.5 m catamaran model (about 1.5Hz) the model T-foil has approximately 5% reduction of amplitude and 15 degrees of phase shift relative to the low frequency response. Only very small limitations arose due to the unsteady lift as predicted by the analysis of Theodorsen. It was concluded that the model scale T-foil performed adequately for application to simulation of a ride control system at model scale.

MEASURED LOADING RESPONSE OF MODEL MOTION CONTROL STERN TABS

Active trim tabs are commonly used as part of the ride control systems of high-speed craft. This paper investigates the lift characteristics of rectangular stern tabs that are commonly fitted to INCAT wave-piercer catamarans. A test apparatus was developed to enable the testing of a model scale trim tab in a circulating water tunnel in the University of Tasmania hydraulics laboratory. The magnitude and location of the lift force produced by the tab were measured over a range of tab angles and flow velocities. From this the lift coefficient of the tab was calculated and the performance of the tab under varying conditions was analysed. The lift force produced by the tab was shown to increase with velocity and tab angle as expected, with the lift coefficient of the tab increasing linearly with tab angle and remaining relatively constant with increases in flow velocity. The magnitude of the measured lift coefficient was lower than had been previously estimated in shallow water tests and the force was found to act forward of the tab hinge, indicating that much of the lift force generated by the tab is due to the increased pressure on the underside of the hull forward of the tab.

Dynamic Hull Vane – A Solution for active Pitch Motion Reduction and Resistance Reduction of ships

The Dynamic Hull Vane® is an actively controlled version of the Hull Vane®, a patented energy-saving and seakeeping device which consists of a submerged wing mounted on the aft ship. The Hull Vane is positioned in the upward flow aft of the ship, to develop forward thrust and reduce the stern wave. Naiad Dynamics US Inc, is a supplier of ride control systems and has worked with Hull Vane BV to develop the Dynamic Hull Vane®. By enabling the Hull Vane® to rotate, it can produce variable lift forces which when suitably controlled can reduce the pitching motions of a vessel in a seaway. This paper describes some of the research carried out on the AMECRC series 13, a generic fast displacement hull.

Operation of Ride Control Systems to Minimise Slamming of Wave-Piercing Catamarans

Wave slam produces dynamic loads on the centre bow of wave piercing catamarans that are related to the relative vertical motion of the bow to the encountered wave surface. Rapid slam forces arise when the arch sections between centre bow and main hulls fill with rising water. In this paper time domain solutions for high speed ship motion in waves, including the action of active motion controls, are used to compute the slam forces. Slamming occurs at specific immersions of the bow whilst the peak slam force is characterised by the maximum relative vertical velocity of the bow during bow entry. Vertical motions of bow and encountered wave are in antiphase at encounter frequencies where slamming is most severe. The range of encounter frequencies where slamming occurs increases with wave height. Wave slam loads reduce ship motions, the heave motion being most reduced. Deployment of a fixed, inactive T-foil can reduce slamming loads by up to 65 %. With active controls peak slamming loads on the bow can be reduced by up to 73% and 79% in 4 m and 3 m seas, local control feedback being marginally the most effective mode of control for reduction of slamming.

H2/H∞ Antivertical Controller Based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) Using Active T-Foils and Trim Tabs for a Fast Catamaran

A wave-piercing catamaran (WPC) is a high-performance ship that has been developed in recent years. Compared to other common ships, the WPC has higher lateral stability, larger deck area, lower oil consumption, and higher speed. However, under rough seas and at high speeds, the coupled heave/pitch motions of the WPC can easily produce coupled oscillations that seriously affect its seaworthiness. To solve these problems, a ride control system was designed for the WPC in this study. This system comprises two T-foils, two trim tabs, and a catamaran motion controller. The H2/H∞ controller was designed based on memory-based particle swarm optimization to alleviate the coupled oscillation resulting from heave/pitch motions. Numerical simulations were conducted to validate the proposed method, and the results showed that the proposed motion controller could obviously improve the sea-keeping performance of a WPC.

Active Ride Control for Construction Machines Based on Pressure Feedback

Typically, off-road construction machines are not equipped with suspensions at the wheel axles. This has led to alternative concepts that uses the working implement to mitigate the vibration transmitted to the cabin. The most common solutions are based on passive ride control (PRC) methods. A PRC usually requires a hydraulic accumulator and dissipating valves properly connected to the working hydraulics. In this way, the PRC is able to dissipate the fluid energy and damp the oscillations of the pressure inside the hydraulic actuators, with clear benefits on the machine vibration. This paper focuses instead on an active ride control (ARC) methodology, which controls the working hydraulic motion to counter-reach the machine vibrations, avoiding the use of an accumulator. The paper addresses the main challenge of designing the controller for the ARC for the reference case of a wheel loader. A high pass pressure filter control with pressure feedback is proposed for this application. The controller is first studied in a simulation model and then validated through experiments on a stock machine. The bandwidth limitation of the standard hydraulic system does not permit to achieve the same performance of a state-of-art PRC system considered as baseline. Notwithstanding, the experimental results on the proposed ARC shows significant improvements with respect to a case where no controller is used. Moreover, the proposed method could be applied with more effectiveness in hydraulic systems with higher dynamic response.