• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.247-254
• /
• 2013

In this paper, dynamic response analysis of a heave compensation system is performed for offshore drilling operations based on multibody dynamics. With this simulation, the efficiency of the heave compensation system can be virtually confirmed before it is applied to drilling operations. The heave compensation system installed on a semi-submersible platform consists of a passive and an active heave compensator. The passive and active heave compensator are composed of several bodies that are connected to each other with various types of joints. Therefore, to carry out the dynamic response analysis, the dynamics kernel was developed based on mutibody dynamics. To construct the equations of motion of the multibody system and to determine the unknown accelerations and constraint forces, the recursive Newton-Euler formulation was adapted. Functions of the developed dynamics kernel were verified by comparing them with other commercial dynamics kernels. The hydrostatic force with nonlinear effects, the linearized hydrodynamic force, and the pneumatic and hydraulic control forces were considered as the external forces that act on the platform of the semi-submersible rig and the heave compensation system. The dynamic simulation of the heave compensation system of the semi-submersible rig, which is available for drilling operations with a 3,600m water depth, was carried out. From the results of the simulation, the efficiency of the heave compensation system were evaluated before they were applied to the offshore drilling operations. Moreover, the calculated constraint forces could serve as reference data for the design of the mechanical system.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.36 no.12
• /
• pp.1683-1688
• /
• 2012

Topology optimization is applied for the lightweight design of three main parts of a vertical articulated robot: a base frame, a lower and a upper frame. Design domains for optimization are set as large solid regions that completely embrace the original parts, which are discretized by using three-dimensional solid elements. Design variables are parameterized one-to-one to the material properties of each element by using the SIMP method. The objective of optimization is set as the multi-objective form combining the natural frequencies and mean compliances of a structure for which load steps of interest are selected from the multibody dynamics analysis of a robot. The obtained results of topology optimization are post-processed to designs favorable to manufacturability for casting process. The final optimized results are 11.0% (base frame), 12.0% (lower frame) and 10.0% (upper frame) lighter with similar or even higher static and dynamic stiffnesses than the original models.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.37 no.4
• /
• pp.581-587
• /
• 2013

In a magnetic train set composed of more than two cars, the installation of dampers between cars is carefully considered for improving both the ride quality and the safety, particularly during curve negotiation. In this study, a dynamic simulation of the ride quality and curve negotiation of a Maglev vehicle was carried out. The dynamic model is developed based on multibody dynamics. The presented full vehicle multibody dynamic model integrates the electromagnet model and its control algorithm. By using this model, the effects of the dampers are numerically analyzed. The proposed damper is installed on the vehicle and tested to analyze its effects. In this study, the simulation and measured results of the vehicle behavior and ride quality are discussed.