A Novel Crane Rigging for Ship-Mounted Cranes

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Introduction

It is a long-standing goal of the US-Navy to be able to transfer a cargo from a heavy

ship to a lighter landing craft utility ship (LCU) in the open ocean, and possibly in high
sea states. During the Vietnam war cargo ships were kept waiting for up to six months to
unload. Following the Vietnam war, the US-Navy undertook a search for alternatives that
led to the design, modification, and deployment in the ‘80s and ‘90s of a fleet of 10
auxiliary crane ships (T-ACS). To restrain horizontal pendulation (i.e., swinging) of the
load, T-ACS cranes were equipped with a rider-block tagline system (RBTS) consisting
of a rider block with two pulleys that can be moved up and down the lift line, and two
winch-controlled taglines. Subsequent studies [1,2] showed that at sea-state 3 (1 degree
of roll) off-loading operations of T-ACS ships equipped with RBTS had to be interrupted
almost half of the time. Moreover, with more than one degree of roll off-loading
operations could never be performed.
Yuan et al. [3] introduced a novel crane rigging, that they named the Maryland
rigging (MR), as a way to increase the control authority over load swing in the off-
loading of ships where port facilities are not available or inadequate. This rigging should
be easily realizable, and easy to add to existing cranes with limited cost. Nevertheless, it
uses friction as a damping mechanism. This seems to be a scheme with more control
authority than simple winch control, and therefore was studied in order to explore and
understand its advantages in terms of load stabilization. This paper is a detailed report of
the modeling steps. The final model was used for testing the control authority of this
scheme, producing excellent result.
Model Development
The main idea in the Maryland rigging is to introduce damping in the load
oscillations by the use of friction. Figure 1 shows a 2-dimensional representation of the
proposed rigging in the plane of roll. The study is limited to the control of ‘in-plane’
oscillations (hypothesis 1, HP1), since those seem to be the most dangerous in practical
applications [2,3]. Point O is the center of the ship’s roll oscillations, while β(t)
represents the roll angle. Line AC is the boom of the crane, and at points B and C the
cable can be released or pulled. C
Angle δ is a fixed angle
M
dependent on the particular L4

geometry. Lengths L3, L4 B

L 2

represent the boom length 3L

L1 T 1
T 2

P
while L5 depends on the α1 α Pulley
2
δ
β T
particular ship geometry. Point A
θ l
3

M is the medium point of BC 5L

L Load
while line BPC represents the
β+δ
cable. At point P there is a O
j
pulley free to rotate on the i

cable. A controlled amount of

friction can be applied between Figure 1. The Maryland Rigging
the pulley and the cable to oppose their relative motion. From the pulley there is another
cable (PL) of length l from which the load is suspended. The load is at point L and has a
mass m2, while the pulley has a mass m1. The main idea in this approach is that the
friction between the pulley and the cable will dissipate swing energy, thus reducing the
oscillations amplitude. The full model of the MR will be developed following these main
steps: (1) equilibrium of forces at the pulley; (2) equilibrium of moments and forces at
the load; (3) cable lengths relation; (4) equilibrium of moments at the pulley; (5)
reduction to 2 variables. The model is developed in the frame of reference (F) with center
at point O and axis (i.e., i and j) oriented along the horizontal and vertical direction in the
plane of roll, as shown in figure 1.
The forces acting on the pulley are the tension of the cables, and its own weight, as
shown in figure 2. Those forces are not all acting on the same points. Indeed, tensions T1
and T2 act on points tangent to the pulley (assuming a cylindrical pulley). Tension T3 and
the pulley weight act on the pulley’s center of gravity. The radius of the pulley can be
neglected (HP2), allowing to write the equilibrium equations along the x and y axis
simply as:
m1xp = T2 cos(α 2 ) − T1 cos(α1 ) + T3 sin (θ )
m1 yp = T2 sin (α 2 ) + T1 sin (α1 ) − T3 cos(θ ) − m1 g

The forces acting on the load (figure 3) are: its own weight, the suspension cable
tension (T3), the inertial forces (looking at the load in a frame of reference with center in
P and axis along i and j), and the centrifugal force. These forces act on different points.
Namely, they act on the load’s center of gravity and on the load’s suspension point, as
shown in figure 3. We can neglect the distance from the load’s center of gravity to its
suspension point (HP3) and we also can consider the cables inextensible (HP4). Thus, we
can write the equations for equilibrium of moments with respect to the center of
oscillation P (the pulley) and equilibrium of forces along the radial (cable) direction:

m2l 2θ = − m2 xpl cos(θ ) − m2 (yp + g )l sin (θ )

T3 = − m2 xp sin (θ ) + m2 (yp + g )cos(θ ) + m2lθ 2

T3
θ

T2
T1 m 2 x p
α1 α2 θ
m2g
j j
T3
i m 2 y p
m1g i
Figure 2. Forces acting on the pulley Figure 3. Forces acting on the load
 The cable lengths can be considered as the (geometrical) distance BP and CP
(figure 1) assuming that the cables are always in tension (HP5). This assumption will
always hold for motions relatively close to equilibrium. Since this model has the purpose
of testing control approaches, the assumption seems reasonable. Anyhow, it can always
be tested in the usage of the model, thus revealing if we are leaving the domain of
applicability of this model. The sum of the cables lengths can be either considered as a
constant or as a function of time:
L1 (t ) + L2 (t ) = L(t )

Finally, the equilibrium of moments at the pulley can be written, thus relating cable
tensions and friction, which we assume to be Coulomb friction (HP6):

(T1 − T2 )r = f (t )r (
f (t ) = Fsign L1 − L2 )
T1 − T2 = Fsign L1 − L2( )
In developing this model we also assumed that there is no air drag (HP 7) and that the
crane boom is rigid (HP8). The full set of equations of motion is given by:

m1xp = T2 cos α 2 − T1 cosα1 + T3 sin θ (1)

m1 yp = T1 sin α1 + T2 sin α 2 − T3 cosθ − m1 g (2)
lθ = − x cosθ − y sin θ − g sin θ
p p (3)
(
T3 = m2 − xp sin θ + yp cosθ + g cosθ + lθ 2 ) (4)
L1 + L2 = L(t ) (5)
(
T1 − T2 = Fsign L1 − L2 ) (6)

We can observe that there are three second-order equations, while it is easily noted that
the system is a two degrees of freedom system (from figure 1, it is conceptually like a
double pendulum). This means that some dynamic equations are redundant. Indeed (1)
and (2) express the accelerations of the pulley, but the pulley’s position is constrained by
the cable. Moreover, we also need to eliminate the tensions in this equation, and
determine the angles α1 and α2 that depend, not only on the geometry, but also on the
pulley and cable position.
Substituting (4) and (6) in (1) and (2) we obtain two equations that still contain one
tension term (e.g., T2). We can eliminate this term from the two equations, ending with
one equation (7) containing the x and y acceleration of the pulley:

G1xp + G2 (yp + g ) + G3 + G4 f (t ) = 0 (7)

G1 = γ 1m1 + m2 (γ 1 sin θ − γ 2 cosθ )sin θ
G2 = γ 2 m1 − m2 (γ 1 sin θ − γ 2 cosθ )cosθ
G = − m lθ 2 (γ sin θ − γ cosθ )
3 2 1 2

G4 = sin (α1 + α 2 )
γ 1 = sin α1 + sin α 2 γ 2 = cos α1 − cosα 2
 The coordinates of the pulley can be determined by recognizing that its distance
from the two cable release points B and C is always L(t). Thus, the pulley position at time
t is on one point of the ellipse with foci B and C. The focal distance is BC = L4, and the
sum of distances of any point in the ellipse from B and C (BP + CP) is L(t). Let’s
introduce the frame of reference (F') with center M, x axis along BC (oriented from B to
C) and y axis at 90 degrees (counterclockwise). The coordinates of the pulley in F' are x'
and y' readily obtained by the parametric equations (with parameter φ) for the given
ellipse:
 L
 x ′ = 2 cos φ

 y ′ = L − L4 sin φ
2 2

 2
Frame F' is obtained from F through a rotation of β and a translation that moves O to M.
The coordinates of M in F can be readily obtained through geometrical relationships. The
coordinates of the pulley in F can be obtained from the corresponding ones in F' by:
  L4 
 x p = x′ cos β − y′ sin β + xm  xm = L5 cos(β + δ ) +  L3 + 2  cos β
 
 ′ ′ 
y
 p = x sin β + y cos β + y m  ym = L5 sin (β + δ ) +  L3 + 4  sin β
L
  2
Taking the derivatives of these equations two times with respect to time yields the
acceleration of the pulley in the x and y direction in F. This can be substituted in (7)
producing a dynamic equation for φ.
The last step is to determine the angles α1 and α2. Simple geometrical relations can
be established for this purpose. For example, observing figure 4 we can write the
following equation that yields sin(α1):
L1 sin (α1 ) + 4 sin (β ) = − y ' cos(β ) − x' sin (β )
L
2
sin (α1 ) = −
1
[(2 x'+ L4 )sin(β ) + 2 y' cos(β )]
2 L1
In analogy we can write other equations yielding:
sin α1 = − [ 1
2 L1
]
(L cos φ + L4 )sin β + L2 − L24 sin φ cos β

cosα =
1
1
2L
[(L cosφ + L )cos β − L − L sin φ sin β ]
1
4
2 2
4

sin α = −
2
1
2L
[(L cosφ − L )sin β + L − L sin φ cos β ]
2
4
2 2
4

cosα = −
2
1
2L
[(L cosφ − L )cos β − L − L sin φ sin β ]
2
4
2 2
4

Squaring and summing the above equations :

L1 =
1
(L + L4 cos φ ) L2 =
1
(L − L4 cos φ )
2 2
 β
½ L4sin(β) β
½ L4 -y´ -y´cos(β)

L1
L1sin(α1) -x´
α1 -x´sin(β)
β

Figure 4. Angles determination

Finally, we can obtain the dynamic equations we were looking for by substituting the
above geometrical relationships in (7) and (3):
  1

φ=
a0
(a1φ 2 + a2φ + a3 + G4 f (t ) )


(
θ = b1φ 2 + b2φ + b3 + b4 f (t )
1
l
)
ai = ai (φ , /, β ) bi = bi (φ , /, β )
a0 = (G1 cos β + G2 sin β )L sin φ + (G1 sin β − G2 cos β ) L2 − L24 cos φ
The quantities ai and bi are not explicitly described since it would be too long and
definitely not fit in five pages, besides it would not add anything to the project itself. The
equations above describe the two degrees of freedom model of the Maryland rigging.
Conclusions
A novel crane rigging approach was introduced. A model for this crane rigging was
developed and its development was detailed step by step. All the relevant assumptions
were stated along with the model development. The final two degrees of freedom model
was also produced, glossing on all the terms involved since the final model became very
complicated and the corresponding equations would be too long to include in this paper.
References
[1] JLOTS II, “Analysis and Evaluation Report,” Little Creek Amphibious Base,
Norfolk, Virginia, August, 1985.
[2] JLOTS III, “Display Determination 91 Test Report,” Naval Surface Warfare Center,
Bethesda, Maryland, November, 1992.
[3] G. H. Yuan, B. R. Hunt, C. Grebogi, E. Ott, J. A. Yorke and E. J. Kostelich,
“Design and Control of Shipboard Cranes,” Proc. 1997 ASME Conference,
September, 1997