No abstract

A research vessel (RV) plays an important role in many fields such as oceanography, fisheries and polar research, hydrographic surveys, and oil exploration. It also has a unique function in maritime research and developments. Full-scale sea trials that require vessels, are usually extremely expensive; however, research vessels are more available than other types of ship. This paper presents the results of a time-domain simulation model of R/V Gunnerus, the research vessel of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), using MARINTEK’s vessel simulator (VeSim). VeSim is a time-domain simulator which solves dynamic equations of vessel motions and takes care of seakeeping and manoeuvring problems simultaneously. In addition to a set of captive and PMM tests on a scale model of Gunnerus, full-scale sea trials are carried out in both calm and harsh weather and the proposed simulation model is validated against sea trial data.

A nonlinear manoeuvring model in three degrees of freedom is presented. MARINTEK’s approach to the numerical determination of this manoeuvering model’s parameters is then shown. Finally the process of taking advanced experimental methods, and utilising MARINTEK’s numerical tools to generate an advanced model available for use in VeSim, MARINTEK’s in-house simulator tool, is shown as a demonstration that the model combined with numerical tools is of great use in making manoeuvring predictions.

In this work we demonstrate the use of co-simulation technology in the maritime industry through four relevant examples of applications based on the outcome of the knowledge-building project Virtual Prototyping of Maritime Systems and Operations (ViProMa). Increasing computational capabilities opens for extended use of simulators in the design processes. Even complex systems can now be analyzed at an early stage of the design process and even in real time using distributed simulation technology. We conduct an assessment of the need for co-simulation technology in the industry, present a short background in co-simulation technology, and provide a short summary of the major findings and deliverables in the ViProMa project (http://viproma.no). The four case studies presented in this work pinpoint different advantages of using co-simulations in the industry, such as combining different modeling and simulation tools, improving collaboration without revealing sensitive information by using black-box models, testing conceptual designs in a fast and consistent manner before initiating building processes, and verifying the interplay between hardware and software in the simulation environment in hardware in the loop (HIL) tests. All the case studies are simulated using the open source co-simulation software Coral developed in the project, using the Functional Mock-up Interface (FMI) standard, and the co-simulation software can be downloaded from the project's web site.