• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.34-42
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• 2015

The development of an azimuth thruster which has the function of dynamic positioning and propulsion has been greatly required as the demand of vehicles with it increases. To develop or design a reliable azimuth thruster, it is appropriate that the performance and cavitation observation tests should be conducted in the regime of high Reynolds number. In the present study, to satisfy high Reynolds number condition new dynamometer for a large azimuth thruster is manufactured and arranged in the test section of the Large Cavitation Tunnel (LCT). The test method composed of the open water and the cavitation observation tests is established successfully in LCT, considering the thruster design.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.353-363
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• 2022

The azimuth thruster is mainly installed on a vessel that requires a dynamic positioning (DP) function for special purposes. When the azimuth thruster on a vessel operates for DP, the thrust loss is induced by the thruster-hull interaction. This study examined the influence of boundary conditions in numerical simulations for predicting thrust loss. Wind turbine installation vessels (WTIV) and floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) were chosen as a target vessels. In this study, two types of boundaries were defined. The first consideration is that the boundary condition was assigned with consideration of the azimuth angle of the thruster, whereas it is fixed regardless azimuth angle of the thruster. The predicted thrust loss according to these boundary conditions showed a difference. This observation originated from the current load of the vessel. Therefore, the boundary conditions for which the current load is not induced need to be designated to obtain a realistic thrust loss in a numerical simulation.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.18-24
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• 2009

This paper shows the result of development about the revolution system of azimuth thruster which of power is less than 250kW for small ship. Advanced Azimuth revolution system can revolve propeller and rudder from 360 degree so that this system for vessel maneuvering can be excellent of propulsion effectively. Fluid power control system for azimuth thruster is designed with PID control system by using CEMTool/SIMTool program. And the actuator used for servo valve can control rudder angle, pressure and direction. The first, We had a test for the angle control of revolution system. The result of angle control confirmed that it has the good efficiency from experiment result of time input degree $30^{\circ}$, $90^{\circ}$ and $180^{\circ}$. The second, We had to a test for the pressure characteristic of hydraulic motor. As a result, We confirmed the maximum pressure 3.5MPa and steady state 0.7MPa nom experiment result of time input degree $30^{\circ}$. In this paper, it is identified the pressure characteristic of hydraulic motor and angle control for azimuth thruster by AMESim, and it has been confirmed the usefulness of AMEsim modeling was verified by comparison between AMESim simulation results and experiments results.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2013.04a
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• pp.555-558
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• 2013

A type of electric propulsion employed by specialized purpose vessels or offshore is the azimuth thruster. Azimuth thruster application had been increasing recently and resulted to excellent vessel maneuverability. However, this system is very complex and some of its major component being exposed under the seawater level presents difficulty in sealing design. For Polar class icebreaker operating in extreme sea condition, this requires a high level of reliability and safety. In this study, the characteristics of lubricating orifice pipe structural vibration installed at the lower reduction gear were investigated and analyzed through beam analysis theory and comparison of experiments. Propeller excitation and the resonant modes of vibration causing excessive vibration and suitable countermeasures to prevent damage due to vibration fatigue on the pipe are presented.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.161-169
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• 2024

In order to investigate cavitation performance for the azimuth thruster in Large Cavitation Tunnel (LCT), the cavitation test apparatus was designed and manufactured. Generally the model scale is determined by the pod dynamometer with about 70mm diameter. Recently as ships with azimuth thruster have become bigger, the problem of the model ship installation was occurred. The model ship with pod dynamometer couldn't be installed in the LCT test section. The cavitation test apparatus and technique which can conduct the cavitation test without pod dynamometer were developed. The cavitation tests were conducted in torque identity method instead of thrust identity method. The target ship with azimuth thruster is 18K LNG bunkering vessel. As the full-scale ship test was conducted, the model cavitation tests were conducted at the same operating conditions. The fluctuating pressure levels of the full-scale ship were compared to those of the model tests. Another model cavitation test was conducted in the foreign institute and the cavitation observation results were compared to those of LCT. Through the comparison with the existing results, it is thought that the cavitation test for the azimuth thruster can be conducted in torque identity method.

• Journal of Ship and Ocean Technology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.27-33
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• 2002

Recently, the application of the electric propulsion system becomes popular because of its advantage over conventional propulsion. However, the complicated flow mechanism and interaction around the azimuth thruster are not fully understood yet, and the studies on the powering performance characteristics with azimuth/pod thrusters are now in progress. The experimental method developed in KRISO(Korea Research Institute of Ships & Ocean Engineering) is introduced and the results of the powering performance tests, consisting of resistance, self-propulsion and propeller open water tests for a cable layer with two azimuth thrusters are presented. For the analysis of powering performance with azimuth thrusters, it is necessary to evaluate the thrust/drag for components of a thruster unit, Extrapolation results could differ according to the various definitions of the propulsion unit; that is the pod, thruster leg and/or nozzle can be treated as hull appendages or as part of propulsion unit, The powering performances based on several definitions are investigated for this vessel. The results of the measurements for the 3-dimensional velocity distribution on the propeller plane are presented to understand the basis of the difference in propulsion characteristics due to the propeller rotational directions.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.373-380
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• 2017

In this study, we conducted computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations for the unsteady hydrodynamic interaction of multiple thrusters by solving Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations. A commercial CFD software, STAR-CCM+ was used for all simulations by employing a ducted thruster model with combination of a propeller and No. 19a duct. A sliding mesh technique was used to treat dynamic motion of propeller rotation and non-conformal hexahedral grid system was considered. Four different combinations in tilting and azimuth angles of the thrusters were considered to investigate the effects on the propulsion performance. We could find that thruster-hull and thruster-thruster interactions has significant effect on propulsion performance and further study will be required for the optimal configurations with the best tilting and relative azimuth angle between thrusters.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.33-39
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• 2004

The performance of a deep water drillship, is investigated with the view of the characteristics of the thrusters and the resistance increasement due to moonpooi. The model tests have been performed to obtain the resistance of two drillships with the moonpooi open and closed including shape changes of moonpool step. To design the DP system, thrust forces of azimuth thrusters have been measured during azimuthing at zero speed condition. Thrusters, azimuthing under the bottom of ship, have the interactions of the other thrusters due to flow changes made by other thrusters, and the existence of ship hull makes the thrust deduction higher than when the thrust operates by itself. The resistance increasement due to the moonpooi is highly dependent on the step height of the moonpool and the draft. It is found that the height of moonpool step can reduce the resistance increasement by moonpool.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.149-158
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• 2023

With the global paradigm shift towards climate change, the shipbuilding industry is also considering propulsion systems that utilize eco-friendly fuels various propulsion systems are gaining attention as a result. In conventional propulsion systems, typically consisting of propellers and rudders, have evolved into a diverse range of systems due to the development of a special propulsion system known as the azimuth thruster. While azimuth thrusters were previously commonly installed on tugboats, they are now extensively used on offshore plant operation ships equipped with dynamic positioning systems. However, these azimuth thrusters require different steering methods compared to conventional propulsion systems, leading to a significant learning curve for the crew members boarding such vessels. Furthermore the availability of education related to these special propulsion systems is limited. This study aims to analyze accidents caused by inadequate control of vessels equipped with azimuth thrusters using the STAMP technique. And it proposes the necessity of standard steering commands for the safe operation of vessels equipped with special propellers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.276-285
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• 2017

The research vessel NARA equipped with an azimuth thruster system was built in 2015. There are few vessels with this propulsion system in Korea. This vessel has two modes such as the normal for maneuvering and the power for investigation, and the other two modes as one axis and two axes on the operating. This type of vessels does not seem to have a clear grasp of the maneuvering character in comparison with the vessel with a conventional propulsion system. So the authors carried out the sea test for the turning, the zigzag and the inclination, and the results are as follows. In turning test, the case of using the two axes mode is much better than the case of using the one axis mode for the elements of turning, such as advance, transfer, tactical diameter and final diameter, but turning hard over the rudder in full speed is very vulnerable to capsize in both modes. In zigzag test, the yaw quicking responsibility index, T is very large excessively, which means a bad counter maneuvering ability, so an operator has to keep in mind that in turning operation. If necessary to avoid collision at head on situation, it may be a more effective method to use the crash astern stop than the turning according to the conditions and circumstances for the shortest stopping distance is very short.