The Experimental Study On Sail-assisted Ship

With the rapidly rising of oil prices and the deterioration of global environment, energy-saving and emission reduction have become the first issues in shipping industry. So, some advanced countries gain a new awareness of sail ship, use modern technology to improve the sail ship, and create sail-assisted ship.In China, the study on sail-assisted ship stays on the sailing auxiliary propulsion device. The sailing auxiliary propulsion system was only used to refit old ship equipped with internal combustion engine. The research on sail-assisted ship from the hull structure to the control system software has not been done under laboratory conditions. This thesis discussed the methods of systematic analysis and design of sail-assisted ship under laboratory conditions by designing and making a ship model fitted with sailing auxiliary propulsion system.This thesis first introduced the aerodynamic characteristics of sail, analyzed the best curve of sail control and established the hard-sail system control model based on the best curve of sail control. It analyzed self-tuning adaptive algorithm, and established the sail-assisted ship's autopilot control model based on adaptive algorithms. In order to design and make the ship model, the work would be divided into mechanical modules, circuit module and control software three parts. The work of mechanical modules includes the design and making of the ship model, auxiliary propulsion sail system and autopilot control system. In the hardware circuit module, there are detection circuit (to detect rudder position, sail position, wind velocity and direction), driving circuit (to drive the rudder and sail transmission mechanism), and communication circuit (serial interface, keyboard and LCD display circuit) to be designed and made. In the software module, this thesis studied and designed a control model for the sail-assisted ship model. It finished the design of main program process and sub-module control program process to complete the function set by the sail-assisted control system.Through the design and making of small wind power ship model and its control systems, this thesis analyzed the feasibility and the necessity of sail-assisted ship, and the principle of its control system. It designed an autopilot control system based on sail and embedded system ARM. This thesis laid the foundation of further research and development for the sail-assisted ship model.