• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.462-469
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• 2019

In this study, a motion control problem for the vessels towed by tugboats or towing ships on the sea is considered. The towed vessels, such as barge ships, are used for several purposes. Generally, these vessels have no power propulsion system and are towed using ropes and towing vessel (tugboats). The basic mathematical model of the towed vessel in which three active rudders are attached was introduced from a previous study. Owing to the dependency of the motions of the towed vessel to the towing ship, a method is suggested to cope with the undesirable disturbance and improve the tracking performance. For the simulation study, a model of the towed vessel with a towing ship is made, and necessary physical parameters are identified from the experiment. For the defined and linearized model, a control system is designed, and the control performance is also evaluated. A simulation study is conducted and the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy is verified.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.943-956
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• 2020

In this study, the motion control problem of the vessel towed by a towing ship (tugboat) is considered. The non-powered towed ship is dragged by the towing ship. Even though the towed ship is equipped with propulsion systems, they cannot be used at low or constant speeds due to safety issues. In narrow canals, rivers, and busy harbor areas especially, where extreme tension is required during towing operation, the course stability of the towed vessel depends on the towing ship. Therefore, the authors propose a new control strategy in which the rudder system of the towed vessel is activated to provide its maneuverability. Based on the leader-follower system configuration, a nonlinear mathematical model is derived and a back-stepping control is designed. By simulation and experiment results with a comparison study, the usefulness and effectiveness of the proposed strategy are validated.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.343-352
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• 2018

In this study, a motion control problem for the vessels towed by tugboats or towing ships on the sea is considered. The towed vessel looks like the barge ship, which is used for many purposes. In these vessels, basically, the power propulsion system is not installed but just towed by a towing vessel such as tugboats with ropes and wires. It means that the motions of towed vessel are basically dependent on the tracking route of towing boat. Therefore, in some cases, undesirable and unpredictable motions may be made by environmental factors such as wave, wind attack and so on. As a result, a collision accident with others may occur during maneuvering situation. Based on these facts, the authors try to encourage the steering performance of the towed vessel by using controllable rudders without any propulsion system. In this study, especially, a controllable vessel with three rudders is considered, and a mathematical model is induced for the future study. The model is described as surge, sway motion and inertia moment by following the general representation method for the surface ship.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.12-23
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• 2021

In the conventional experiment to assess the towing operations, the towing stability of the towed vessel has been evaluated under the condition without lateral motion of the tug-boat. However, the tug-boats may have a lateral force to change the direction of the towed vessel. In this study, experiments have been conducted considering unsteady conditions in the towing system. First, a towing test system in a Circular Water Channel (CWC) using the conventional experimental method is built. Second, the towing characteristics of the towed vessel are investigated using the conventional method, and they are compared with other research results and stability discriminant criteria. Third, the lateral motion of the tug-boat was modeled as a sinusoidal motion using a forced oscillation device changing frequency and amplitude. Finally, the discussion is given in terms of both towing- and course-stability of the towed vessel according to the lateral motion of the tug-boat.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.637-642
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• 2013

In this paper, an analysis results of towing force and towing points which are dominating factors to determine the behavior of towed ship are introduced. The towing force and towing points to achive the desired posture and its position of the towed vessel are derived based on simplified dynamics and linearization method. LQR algorithm for posture control is applied to linearized system and numerical simulation is also executed. Force based on COG(cneter of gravity) and gain of controller to achieve desired posture for target vessel are obtained by using Riccati matrix equation and pseudo inverse matrix is applied to analyze the relation between the derived force and its towing point. Based on this analysis method, towing force need to move the towed vessel from its initial position to target position can be calculated. The towing method including towing point and direction is also considered on this method. Finally, the relation between towing force and towing point is confirmed from the analysis and the results can be applied to arrangement of tug boats during salvage works.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.238-245
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• 2020

In this study, a motion control problem for the vessel towed by towing ship on the sea is considered. The towed vessel does not have self-control capabilities such that its course stability totally depends on the towing ship. Especially, in the narrow canal, river and congested harbor area, extreme tension is required during the towing operation. The authors, therefore, propose a new control system design method in which the rudder is activated to provide its maneuverability. Based on the leader following system configuration, a nonlinear mathematical model is derived and a backstepping control is designed. By experiment results with nonlinear control framework, the usefulness and effectiveness of the proposed strategy are presented.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.13 no.1 s.31
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• pp.18-22
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• 1999

One of the problem areas in designing a barge is its resistance and corese stability when it is towed by a tugboat. In this paper, as a part of design of a incinerating vessel, the results of some experimental studies on the effect of various kinds of anti-yawing skegs to the course keeping stability and on the additional resistance caused by them were summarized.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.607-612
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• 2012

In this paper, calculation methods of resistance of the ship to be towed and towline tension are discussed. When the vessel is fallen into dead ship condition then appropriate towing force have to be estimated to move the vessel from accident place to safe area. In this research, resistance of the ship to be towed and the tow hawser were considered to estimate total towline tension. Polynomial interpolation method is also applied to estimate additional hydrodynamic resistance of towline. Finally, UI program to calculate the resistance and total towline tension is developed. The developed program based on the research results is effective and convenient to use.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.421-427
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• 2015

This study aims at reviewing first the cases of marine accidents of small fishing vessels and vessels towing and being towed and, the problems concerning such lights and shapes that could be misunderstood for those in concerned Rules, or that could impair their distinctive characteristics or obstruct to keep a proper look-out. And then I wish to make a suggestion of the necessity of amending the National Laws which stipulate the rules for the ship's lights and shapes as follows; Firstly, by amending the "Standard of Construction and Equipment for the Less Than 10 Gross Tonnage of Small Fishing Vessels" small fishing vessel must be equipped with the lights and shapes that are the same as those of "vessel engaged in fishing" prescribed by Rule 26 of the "COLREG 1972" and Rule 84 of the "Maritime Safety Law Act". Secondly, "Standard of Fishing Vessels Equipment" which stipulate the rules concerning the exception of the running lights and radar reflector for the small fishing vessels must be amended to meet the requirement of Rule 20 of the "Maritime Safety Act". Thirdly, the definition of "Length of the tow" which prescribed by Rule 2 of the "Maritime Safety Act" must be amended to meet the Rule 24 of the "COLREG 1972". And also I wish to adhere to the importance of displaying the adequate vessel lights and shapes by every mariner for preventing marine accidents.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.58-65
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• 2016

Lately, tugboats are widely used to maneuver vessels by pushing or towing them where tugboats use rope. In order to correctly control the motion of tugboat and towed vessel, the dynamics of the towline would be well identified. In real application environment, the towing rope length changes and the towing load is not constant due to the various sizes of towed vessel. And there are many ropes made by many types of materials. It means that it is not easy to obtain rope dynamics, such that it is too difficult to satisfy the given control purpose by designing control system. Thus real time identification or adaptive control system design method may be a solution. However it is necessary to secure sufficient information about rope dynamics to obtain desirable control performance. In this paper, the authors try to have several rope dynamic models by changing the rope length to consider real application conditions. Among them, a representative model is selected and the others are considered as uncertain models which are considered in control system design. The authors design a robust control to cope with strong uncertain and nonlinear property included in the real plant. The designed control system based on robust control framework is evaluated by simulation.