Robust Stabilization of Large Amplitude Ship Rolling in Beam Seas

Abstract

The dynamics and control of a strongly nonlinear 3-DOF model for ship motion are investigated. The model describes the roll, sway, and heave motions occurring in a vertical plane when the vessel is subjected to beam seas. The ship is installed with active antiroll tanks as a means of preventing large amplitude roll motions. A robust state feedback controller for the pumps is designed that can handle model uncertainties, which arise primarily from unknown hydrodynamic loads. The approach for the controller design is a combination of sliding mode control and composite control for singularly perturbed systems, with the help of the backstepping technique. It is shown that this design can effectively control roll motions of large amplitude, including capsize prevention. Numerical simulation results for an existing fishing vessel, the twice-capsized Patti-B, are used to verify the analysis. [S0022-0434(00)02701-5]