Effect of hoisting cable elasticity on anti-sway controllers of quay-side container cranes

Oscillation frequency of crane payloads is the main and most important factor in crane anti-sway control systems design. In the summer of 2005, a Smart Sway Control system (SSC) was installed on a 65-ton quay-side container crane at Jeddah Port. During the calibration phase of the installation, it was observed that heavy payloads combined with the dynamic stretch of the hoist cables had a significant impact on the configuration of the hoisting mechanism and the pattern of oscillation. This introduced considerable change in the oscillation frequency of the payload, which resulted in a significant impact on the performance of the anti-sway control system. Empirical formulas had to be used to compensate for the change in the frequency approximation used in the controller algorithm. In this work, an analytic approximation of the oscillation frequency of the hoisting mechanism of a quay-side container crane is developed, which takes into consideration the elasticity of the hoisting cables. A parametric study is performed to investigate the extent of the effect of the hoisting cables stretch on the system behavior for a typical range of payload masses and cable lengths. The performance of the delayed feedback control system used in the SSC controller is simulated on an elastic cables model using both the elastic and rigid cable frequency approximations.     

Sway Reduction on Container Cranes Using Delayed Feedback Controller

Traditionally, container cranes are modeled as a simple pendulum, witheither a flexible or a rigid hoisting cable, and a lumped mass at theend of that cable. In the case of large container cranes, the actualconfiguration of the hoisting mechanism is significantly different. Itconsists typically of an arrangement of four hoisting cables, which arehoisted from four different points on the trolley and attached on theload side to four points on a spreader bar used to lift containers.Thus, the dynamics of the actual container-crane hoisting assembly isdifferent from that of a simple pendulum. A controller design based onthe actual model is more likely to result in an improved response. Inthis work, a mathematical model of the actual container crane isdeveloped. Then, a simplified version of this model is used to calculatethe gain and delay for the delay controller developed earlier. Numericalsimulations are performed by applying the delay controller to the fullnonlinear model of the container crane.     

Nonlinear analysis of time-delay position feedback control of container cranes

Time-delay feedback control of container cranes is robustly stable and insensitive to initial conditions for most of the linearly stable region. To better understand this robustness and any limitations of the technique, we undertake a nonlinear analysis of the system. To this end, we develop a nonlinear model of the crane system by modeling the crane-hoist-payload assembly as a double pendulum. Then, we derive a linear approximation specific to this model. Finally, we derive a cubic model of the dynamics for nonlinear analysis. Using linear analysis, we determine the gain and time delay factors for stabilizing controllers. Also, we show that the controller undergoes a Hopf bifurcation at the linear stability boundary. Using the method of multiple scales on the cubic model, we determine the normal form of the Hopf bifurcation. We then show that for practical operating ranges, the controller undergoes a supercritical bifurcation that helps explain the robustness of the controller.     

On the Need for Control of Nonlinear Oscillations in Machine Systems

Oscillations in machines are invariably nonlinear. This is either because of inertial coupling effects between different motions of the moving components, material and constitutive phenomena giving rise to stiffness modifications, nonlinear dissipation mechanisms, large deflections, or, as is most likely, some sort of combination of all of these. The net effect of nonlinear vibrations is that at best the machine may well behave a little differently from the way the designer intended, or at worst, in a manner which renders it completely unsuitable for the job. The extent of such problems depends on the nature and the scale of the nonlinearities that are present but it is safe to say that nonlinear oscillations can rarely be completely overlooked in precision machinery analysis and design. The unifying theme in this paper is pendulum motion, firstly in the case of a mobile gantry crane for container stacking where we wish to minimise such motion and converge on a target, and then secondly in the case of a vibration absorber in which we choose to initiate pendulum motion within a special absorber, for the purposes of vibration minimisation. The third example involves the potential for pendulum motion at a very much larger scale and summarises the main control problem that is likely to be encountered in a fully deployed momentum exchange propulsion tether operating in space. The paper discusses the general mathematical issues that pertain to pendulum motion in each of the three cases. This motion is investigated initially in the context of the mobile gantry crane, in the form of a basic three dimensional dynamical model. A feedback linearised controller is shown to offer some advantages for the control of such a system and then a simulation based on data from a practical implementation of this within a real-time control system on a 1/10 laboratory scale model is discussed. It is recalled that the real-time effectiveness of the controller can be compromised by relatively slow sensing and data logging hardware but that despite this some useful performance gains can still be obtainable using this sort of control strategy. The second example comprises an autoparametric vibration absorber and here it is shown how even a simple hunting controller can exploit the mode-locking and wide detuning region effects inherent in autoparametric systems. Further experimental results are discussed in the case of a hunting controller for detuning a vertically oriented parametrically excited pendulum in order to exploit and enhance the powerful and persistent absorption available during autoparametric interaction. The paper concludes with a summary review of the third problem in which the theoretical attitude dynamics of a motorised momentum exchange space propulsion tether are summarised and it is shown that they need to be controlled for reliable and optimal payload velocity boost from both circular parking orbits and elliptical transfer orbits about the Earth.     

Partially saturated nonlinear control for gantry cranes with hardware experiments

Gantry cranes are typically underactuated nonlinear dynamic systems with highly coupled system states. We propose in this paper a partially saturated nonlinear controller for gantry crane systems by converting the crane model into an objective (i.e., desired closed-loop) system. The presented scheme guarantees “soft” cart start by introducing a smooth saturated function into the controller. In particular, we first establish an objective system with desired signal convergence and stability performance. Then, on the basis of the objective dynamics’ structure, we derive a partially saturated control law straightforwardly by solving one partial differential equation, without necessity of performing partial feedback linearization operations to the original crane model. The convergence and stability performance of the objective system is assured with Lyapunov-based methods. In order to verify the practical control performance of the proposed method, we implement both numerical simulation and hardware experiments to illustrate that the new method achieves increased performance with respect to existing methods, with lessened control efforts.     

Mathematical modelling of the container cranes under seismic loading and proving by shake table

This paper is concerned with modelling of the behaviour of container cranes under seismic loadings. For this purpose, physical and mathematical models are prepared. A six degrees-of-freedom non-linear mathematical model is developed in order to understand the dynamic behaviour of cranes under the seismic loadings. In order to determine the seismic behaviour of the container cranes against earthquakes, a 1/20 scaled crane model was designed and constructed. For the comparison of the models, the real earthquake records were used. The results are used to observe the destructive effects and compared with the period values of the most critical sections on the crane structure. When time and frequency domains are compared, it is seen that mathematical modelling of the container crane structure shows reasonable results under dynamic loadings. It will be available to take precautions and to increase seismic performance of cranes with the help of the developed dynamic model. Also, the developed mathematical model will be able to be used as a crane model in active vibration control studies in order to decrease the structural vibrations on container cranes.     

Reduced normal forms for nonlinear control of underactuated hoisting systems

Nearly every cargo that is transported by ship is boxed in standardized containers. The land to ship and ship to land handling of containers is performed by container cranes. These cranes dominate the throughput of the containers in ports. The operators need to be well-trained and skilled because of the requirements of the task to load or unload the ships. During container handling, the crane-load system can be compared to a pendulum of rope length L and deflection f{\phi} . It is referred to as an underactuated system. Whenever the fixed point of the pendulum is displaced, the load starts oscillating. In the nonlinear dynamics literature, one finds the field of resonant coupling to transfer energy from actuated controllable modes to underactuated uncontrollable modes. This work presents a novel normal form approach in order to identify the mode coupling. The proposed method decomposes a nonlinear control system into controllable and uncontrollable subsystem. Only the normal form terms in the controllable subsystem are utilized to design a general controller. Simulation results are given to highlight the load oscillation suppression.     

Dynamic response of tower crane induced by the pendulum motion of the payload

Dynamic response of tower cranes coupled with the pendulum motions of the payload is studied in this paper. A simple perturbation scheme and the assumption of small pendulum angle are applied to simplify the governing equation. The tower crane is modeled by the finite element method, while the pendulum motion is represented as rigid-body kinetics. Integrated governing equations for the coupled dynamics problem are derived based on Lagrange’s equations including the dissipation function. Dynamics of a real luffing crane model with the spherical and planar pendulum motions is analyzed using the proposed formulations and computational method. It is found that the dynamic responses of the tower crane are dominated by both the first few natural frequencies of crane structure and the pendulum motion of the payload. The dynamic amplification factors generally increase with the increase of the initial pendulum angle and the changes are just slightly nonlinear for the planar pendulum motion.     

Cargo Pendulation Reduction of Ship-Mounted Cranes

Ship-mounted cranes are used to transfer cargo from large container ships to smaller lighters when deep-water ports are not available. The wave-induced motion of the crane ship can produce large pendulations of the cargo being hoisted and cause operations to be suspended. In this work, we show that it is possible to reduce these pendulations significantly by controlling the slew and luff angles of the boom. Such a control can be achieved with the heavy equipment that is already part of the crane so that retrofitting existing cranes would require a small effort. Moreover, the control is superimposed on the commands of the operator transparently. The successful control strategy is based on delayed feedback of the angles of the cargo-hoisting cable in and out of the plane of the boom and crane tower. Its effectiveness is demonstrated in a fully nonlinear three-dimensional computer simulation and in an experiment with a 1/24th-scale model of a T-ACS (The Auxiliary Crane Ship) crane mounted on a platform moving with three degrees of freedom. The results demonstrate that the pendulations can be significantly reduced, and therefore the range of sea conditions in which cargo-transfer operations can take place can be greatly expanded.     

On stability of relative equilibria of a double pendulum with vibrating suspension point

We consider the motions of a double pendulum consisting of two hinged identical rods. The pendulum suspension point is assumed to perform harmonic vibrations of arbitrary frequency and arbitrary amplitude in the vertical direction. We carry out a complete nonlinear analysis of the stability of the four pendulum relative equilibria on the vertical. The problem on the stability of the relative equilibria of the mathematical pendulum in the case where the suspension point performs vertical harmonic vibrations of arbitrary frequency and arbitrary amplitude was considered in a linear setting [1–3] and a nonlinear setting [4, 5]. In the case of small-amplitude rapid vertical vibrations of the suspension point, linear and (mathematically not fully rigorous) nonlinear stability analysis of the relative equilibria was carried out for an ordinary pendulum [6–9] and a double pendulum [10, 11]. In [12], for the same case of rapid vibrations, stability conditions in the linear approximation were obtained for the four relative equilibria of a system consisting of two physical pendulums. In the special case of a system consisting of two identical rods, the problem was solved in the nonlinear setting.     

Global Bifurcation Analysis of a Controlled Underactuated Mechanical System

In this paper, bifurcation theory is employed to classify different dynamical behaviors arising in an underactuated mechanical system subject to bounded controls. The methodology is applied to an inertia wheel pendulum consisting of a simple pendulum with a rotating disk at the end. Restricting the magnitude of the control action places an important obstacle to the design of a continuous controller capable of swinging-up and stabilize the pendulum at the inverted position: the arm only can reach that position by means of oscillations of increasing amplitude. The controller is derived from a simple nonlinear state-feedback law, followed by a saturating device that limits the maximum amplitude of the control action applied to the system. This bound gives birth to a rich dynamical behavior, including pitchfork and Hopf bifurcations of equilibria, saddle-node bifurcations of periodic orbits, homoclinic and heteroclinic bifurcations. The global dynamics is analyzed in terms of certain control gains and a two-parameter bifurcation diagram is derived. It is shown that the dynamics on this bifurcation diagram is organized in a pair of codimension-two rotationally symmetric bifurcation points. Finally, it is found out that when the control gains lie on a certain region in the parameter space simultaneous stabilization of the upright position together with a large basin of attraction is obtained. Simulation results show that almost global stabilization of the system can be achieved.     

Nonlinear Dynamics of Floating Cranes

The nonlinear dynamic responses of moored crane vessels to regular wavesare investigated experimentally and theoretically. The main subject ofinterest are nonlinear phenomena like bifurcations and the existence ofmultiple attractors. In the experimental part of the work, a mooredmodel of a crane vessel has been excited by regular waves in a wavetank. A special mechanism has been developed to model the nonlinearbehavior of real mooring systems. The theoretical part of the workconcerns the mathematical modeling of the floating cranes. Twomathematical models of different levels of complexity are presented. Twodifferent tools are used to systematically determine the responses ofthe systems to periodic forcing of waves. Firstly, the path-followingtechniques in combination with numerical integration of equations ofmotion applied to a full nonlinear model give insight into the dynamicsin time domain. Secondly, the multiple scales method allows for ananalytical investigation of simplified nonlinear models in frequencydomain. Many results of computations for two crane vessels, barge andship, are presented. Special attention is paid to oscillations near thefrequencies of primary resonances and to subharmonic motions. Anexcellent agreement is found between the results of time-domain andfrequency-domain analysis. The computational examples chosen correspondto the models used not only in the present experiments but in theexperiments of others as well. The results presented in the work allow usto draw several important conclusions concerning the dynamic behavior offloating cranes during offshore operations. Both the developed modelsand the analytical tools can be used to identify the limits of theoperating range of floating cranes.     

Dewar瓶内液体晃动的近似计算方法

本文研究Dewar瓶内液体的晃动特征问题，将液体晃动的微分方程边值问题转换为具有积分形式的泛函极值问题，在此基础上建立了旋转对称容器液体晃动特征问题的有限元数值计算方法和通用程序，并计算了Dewar球，球腔，圆柱腔液体的晃动固有频率，结果显示了Dewar瓶综合了球腔和圆柱腔液体晃动的特征，它将液体晃动频率控制在一窄带范围之内。利用该程序，本文又计算了Dewar瓶液体晃动的单摆模型，为了便于工程应用，本文提出了一种对Dewar瓶建立等效圆柱容器液体晃动模型的方法，给出了模型的参数变换公式，从而可以通过对圆柱窝器液体晃动的解析计算得到Dewar瓶的液体晃动结果。利用数值计算结果，本文验算了近似计算方法的有效性和近似程序。     

Controlling the inverted pendulum by means of a nested saturation function

A nonlinear controller is presented for the stabilization of the underactuated inverted pendulum mounted on a cart. The fact that this system can be expressed as a chain of integrators, with an additionally nonlinear perturbation, allows us to use a nested saturation control technique to bring the pendulum to the top position, with zero displacement of the cart. The obtained closed-loop system is semiglobal, asymptotically stable, and locally exponentially stable, under the assumption that the position of the angle is initialized above the upper half plane.     

具有内域的双层加筋圆柱壳动响应特性简

采用外域双渐近法模拟外部流体域,内域双渐近法模拟内部流体域,采用非线性有限元软件ABAQUS 模拟结构,建立流固耦合数值模型并验证了其有效性. 利用建立的数值模型研究内部流体对双层加筋圆柱壳动响应的影响. 研究结果表明：一阶双渐近的解在中后期振荡周期变短、幅值变小,而二阶双渐近的解与解析解吻合良好;内部流体的存在减弱了双层加筋圆柱壳外壳的塑性变形,对其内壳塑性变形的影响较小;内部流体的存在减弱了双层加筋圆柱壳的速度响应.     

具有内域的双层加筋圆柱壳动响应特性

采用外域双渐近法模拟外部流体域,内域双渐近法模拟内部流体域,采用非线性有限元软件ABAQUS 模拟结构,建立流固耦合数值模型并验证了其有效性. 利用建立的数值模型研究内部流体对双层加筋圆柱壳动响应的影响. 研究结果表明:一阶双渐近的解在中后期振荡周期变短、幅值变小,而二阶双渐近的解与解析解吻合良好;内部流体的存在减弱了双层加筋圆柱壳外壳的塑性变形,对其内壳塑性变形的影响较小;内部流体的存在减弱了双层加筋圆柱壳的速度响应.      

A partially saturated adaptive learning controller for overhead cranes with payload hoisting/lowering and unknown parameters

For underactuated overhead cranes with payload hoisting/lowering, a partially saturated adaptive controller subject to unknown or uncertain system parameters is presented in this paper. To decrease the convergence time in the case of the overhead crane parameters already experienced by the system, the learning component is added to the proposed partially saturated adaptive controller. By introducing hyperbolic tangent functions into the control methods, the proposed controllers can guarantee soft trolley start even in the case of high initial velocities of trolley and cable. The convergence and stability performance of the closed-loop system is proven by Lyapunov techniques and LaSalle’s invariance theorem. Simulation results are listed to verify the adaptive performance with reduced actuating forces and strong robustness with respect to different external disturbances of the proposed controllers.     

刚性杆-弹簧摆模型复杂动力学特性的数值仿真

建立一种刚性杆-弹簧摆刚柔耦合强非线性动力学系统模型,给出了无量纲的动力学微分方程．该模型同时存在小幅度快速振荡和大范围慢速摆动的快、慢双时间尺度变量．针对工程中此类系统数值求解容易产生的刚性问题,采用一种三次Hermite插值精细积分法进行数值计算．将频率比、摆长比和初始摆角作为控制参数,研究刚性杆-弹簧摆刚柔耦合系统快、慢变量的复杂动力学行为．通过数值仿真分析,发现系统在不同的控制参数组合下呈现出混沌运动状态,并给出了与系统运动状态相关的控制参数范围,为复杂的刚柔耦合多体系统的设计与数值分析提供了参考．     

Lyapunov-Based Controller for the Inverted Pendulum Cart System

A nonlinear control force is presented to stabilize the under-actuated inverted pendulum mounted on a cart. The control strategy is based on partial feedback linearization, in a first stage, to linearize only the actuated coordinate of the inverted pendulum, and then, a suitable Lyapunov function is formed to obtain a stabilizing feedback controller. The obtained closed-loop system is locally asymptotically stable around its unstable equilibrium point. Additionally, it has a very large attraction domain.Contributed by Prof. F. Pfeiffer.     

Dynamics of a Mobile Crane and Optimisation of the Slewing Motion of Its Upper Structure

In the paper the 3-D model of a telescopic mobile crane is presented. In the model flexibilities and damping have been taken into account and also the number of degrees of freedom can be chosen according to the complexity of an approach. The algorithm of optimisation of drive functions for the slewing upper structure is given. The main goal of optimisation was to ensure load positioning at the end point of a work cycle in the case when oscillations are minimal. In order to achieve appropriate numerical effectiveness, the optimisation problem was solved for the simple, fully rigid model of a mobile crane. The method of compensating neglected flexibilities of the base structure of the crane and inner disturbances connected with the feedback control system via digital PID controller is presented.