Dynamic Anchoring System for Constant Tension Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional anchoring systems for ships and offshore floating bodies fail to maintain constant tension during storms, leading to anchoring system failure and structural damage due to excessive force from wind, ocean currents, and long periodic waves, which results in accidents such as shifting, grounding, or crashing.
Innovation Solution
A constant tension anchoring system that includes an anchor, anchor chain, anchor windlass, towing cable, load, and chain stopper, which automatically releases and retracts the load to maintain a constant anchoring force by adjusting the anchor chain length in response to wave cycles, reducing the risk of damage from excessive tension.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the chain diameter is increased or more chains are adapted to enhance the anchoring system, then the minimum break load is increased, but the anchoring cost increases hugely and the fundamental possibility of ship destruction in storms remains unchanged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a dynamic anchoring system with a winch that can actively pay out and retrieve the anchor chain based on real-time tension requirements. This dynamic adjustment capability allows the system to maintain optimal breaking load without permanently over-engineering the chain specification, thereby reducing costs while maintaining safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameters of the anchoring chain by using a winch to control the chain tension and length dynamically. Instead of relying on fixed chain properties, the system adjusts parameters like chain payout length and tension force to match actual sea conditions, optimizing both safety and cost-effectiveness.
2Stability of the object's composition
If weights and pontoons are introduced to increase elastic links in the anchoring system, then the flexibility is improved, but the effective buffering capacity is depleted when moving distance increases, and the system reaches a rigid state
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a dynamic winch system that can actively adjust the anchor chain length and tension in real-time. This replaces static elastic elements (weights and pontoons) with an active mechanical system that maintains flexibility and buffering capacity regardless of the floating body's movement distance, preventing the system from reaching a rigid state.
Solution Approach 2:
The winch acts as an intermediary mechanism between the anchor chain and the floating body, mediating the tension and length adjustments. This intermediary system provides continuous buffering capacity without relying on the physical elasticity limits of weights or pontoons, enabling the system to maintain flexibility over extended movement distances.
3Force
If the anchoring force is increased to resist wind and current forces, then the resistance to external forces is improved, but the force on the floating structure increases, causing structural failure or sinking
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a dynamic winch system that actively controls anchor chain tension based on real-time conditions. The winch can pay out chain to reduce tension on the floating structure when external forces are high, while maintaining sufficient anchoring force to prevent drifting. This dynamic control prevents excessive structural loading while ensuring adequate anchoring performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs periodic adjustment of the anchor chain tension through the winch, responding to oscillating wave and current forces. By rhythmically paying out and retrieving chain in response to periodic environmental forces, the system maintains safe tension levels on the structure while providing continuous anchoring resistance.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively maintains a constant tension force during storms, reducing the risk of anchoring system failure and structural damage by releasing energy as the floating body moves backward and retracting the anchor chain during the return phase of wave cycles, ensuring the safety of both the anchoring system and the floating body.
Implementation Method 1
the chains with buffering capacity are stretched by the ocean currents
Implementation Method 2
For conventional catenary anchoring systems, the chains will be quickly straightened in the storm
Implementation Method 3
one end of the anchor chain is connected with the anchor, the other end of the anchor chain is connected with one end of the towing cable after passing around a roller of the anchor windlass
Data Source
AI summary
A constant tension anchoring system mounted on a floating body in the ocean includes an anchor, an anchor chain, an anchor windlass, a towing cable, a load and a chain stopper. During the oscillatory motion of the waves, the constant tension anchoring system repeats the release and retraction so as to maintain a generally constant tension force and thereby ensure the safety of the anchoring system and the floating body.