Determination of attainable regions in ship maneuvers: an application of differential inclusions to the modeling of ship dynamics

A commonly used mathematical tool in vehicle dynamics simulation is the ordinary differential equation. However, in some situations, these equations may not be sufficient to solve problems. For robust flight, surface ship or submarine control design, safety assessment, missile and aircraft guidance, the influence of disturbances, and differential games of pursuit–evasion, more versatile tools are needed. The differential inclusion (DI) is a generalization of a differential equation that can be extremely useful. The solution of a DI is not just a model trajectory or a set of trajectories obtained by a randomization of the original problem. The solution is a reachable set, and it is a deterministic object. A differential inclusion solver and its application to vessel movement are described. Compared to previous publications on the DI solver, the new feature is an implementation of the fuzzy sets technique to improve the resulting images. It is pointed out that the reachable sets cannot be assessed properly while treating the uncertain variables as random. The application of the DI solver can give a proper view of the regions in the state space where all the possible model trajectories belong.     

Novel Manufacturing Technology of Hyperbolic Plates for Shipbuilding

On the basis of the principle of dieless hydrobulging technology, a novel hydrobulging technology for manufacturinghyperbolic plates is proposed. First, a toroidal pipe elbow or a partial toroidal pipe elbow is formed, then the single hydrobulgedstructure can be cut up into some desired plates. It is proved by experiments and finite element simulation that manufacturingtechnology of hyperbolic plates adopting integrated hydrobulging forming technology is feasible.     

Internet-based Teleoperation Platform For Mobile Robot

An Internet-based teleoperation platform for Mobile Robot is introduced in this paper. The hardware of the system mainly consists of a mobile robot. Its software employs client-server architecture for robot control and feedback information display . Different communication protocols are adopted according to the characteristics of message exchanged between the robot server and the client. The user interface is designed for the purpose of interaction. The great benefit of this client-server architecture is that the client software is insulated from the lowest level details of the mobile robot. Thus, it is very easy to implement and test new advanced teleoperation control algorithms, interface designs and applications on this platform without large programming work.     

Application of ML to System Identification for Underwater Vehicle

In this paper, maximum-likelihood (ML) and its relaxation algorithm, which are used to identify the mathematicsmodel of an underwater vehicle(UV), arc discussed. With the trial data of zigzag tests, the hydrodynamic derivatives of theUV were estimated, and the relaxation algorithm is confirmed to have better astringency from the contrast between the twomethods.Then a simulation environment based on these parameters is established to verify the validity and effect of these meth-ods. The result shows the model is credible and the methods are very useful for the research of maneuverability and adaptivecontrol of underwater vehicles.     

FEA for designing of floating raft shock-resistant system

Choosing the equipment with good shock-resistant performance and taking shock protection measures while designing the onboard settings, the safety of onboard settings can be assured when warships, especially submarine subjected to non-contact underwater explosion, that is, these means can be used to limit the rattlespace (i. e. , the maximum displacement of the equipment relative to the base) and the peak acceleration experienced by the equipment. Using shock-resistant equipments is one of shock protection means. The shock-resistant performance of the shock-resistant equipments should be verified in the design phase of the equipments. The FEA (finite element analysis) software, for example, MSC. NASTRANw, can be used to verify the shock-resistant performance. MSC. PATRAN and MSC. NASTRAN are used for modeling and analyzing the floating raft vibration isolating equipment. The model of the floating raft and the floating raft vibration isolating system are theoretically analyzed and calculated, and the analysis results are in agreement with the test results. The transient response analysis of the system model follows the modal analysis of the floating raft vibration isolating system. And it is used to verify the shock-resistant performance. The analysis and calculation method used in this paper can be used to analyze the shock-resistant performance of onboard shock-resistant equipments.     

Shipbuilding trends in response to environmental issues

This paper offers an overview about how societal issues and environmental challenges will influence shipbuilding in the near future. It begins with an evaluation of societal developments and refers to globalization and climate change. The paper then continues to assess the impact of these developments on ship design and operation, and considers how the adverse effects of shipping in this context can be reduced. In this respect, topics like emission control and scrapping of ships are considered.     

Asymptotic analysis of mode I propagating crack-tip field in a creeping material

Adopting an elastic-viscoplastic, the asymptotic problem of mode I propagating crack-tip field is investigated. Various asymptotic solutions resulting from the analysis of crack growing programs are presented. The analysis results show that the quasistatically growing crack solutions are the special case of the dynamic propagating solutions. Therefore these two asymptotic solutions can be unified.     

A review of the effect of a/ W ratio on fracture toughness （Ⅲ） ——theoretical analysis

In part I and II of this series, experimental investigation in both EPFM and LEFM had been discussed. In this part, further theoretical analysis is given. The theoretical development of Two Parameter Fracture Mechanics by Hancock etc, has rationalized our experimental results. This method can be applied to engineering practice, and will allow the advantage of enhanced toughness for specimens with low levels of constraint to be taken into account for defect assessment.     

An experimental testbed for mobile offshore base control concepts

 The concept of a mobile offshore base (MOB) reflects the need to stage and support military and humanitarian operations anywhere in the world. A MOB is a self-propelled, modular, floating platform that can be assembled into lengths of up to 2 km, as required, to provide logistic support to US military operations where fixed bases are not available or adequate. It accommodates the take-off and landing of C17 aircraft, and can be used for storage, as well as to send resources quickly to shore. In most concepts, the structure is made of three to five modules, which have to perform long-term station-keeping in the presence of winds, waves, and currents. This is usually referred to as dynamic positioning (DP). In the MOB, the alignment is maintained through the use of thrusters, connectors, or a combination of both. In this paper, we consider the real-time control of scaled models of a MOB. The modules are built at the 1 : 150 scale, and are kept aligned by rotating thrusters under a hierarchical hybrid control scheme. This paper describes a physical testbed developed at the University of California, Berkeley, under a grant from the US Office of Naval Research, for the purpose of evaluating competing MOB control concepts. Received: June 4, 2002 / Accepted: October 30, 2002 Acknowledgments. This material is based on work supported by the MOB Program of the US Office of Naval Research under grant N00014-98-1-0744. The authors would like to thank the Link Foundation for its support. Many thanks go to Stephen Spry for his experimental work. The photographs are courtesy of Bill Stone, Gerald Stone, and Jay Sullivan of the PATH Publications staff. Address correspondence to: A.R. Girard (e-mail: anouck@eecs.berkeley.edu)