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Simulation of a twin-gyro compass



The task:

A gyro compass is a complex technical structure which one could describe as a system of rigid bodies in which individual components have continuum properties. To avoid cost-intensive, experimental design studies, a simulation model is to be developed on a computer.

The solution:

A system analysis and then a mathematical modelling of the subsystems was carried out for the compass:
  • ship’s movement in the inertial space to describe the given compass movement as external quantity
  • the rigid body system gyro compass as system of non-linear differential equations for the movement of the individual components
  • hydrodynamic supporting bearings as non-linear spring, described by a potential equation for the pressure
  • ring dampers as complex fluid-mechanical damping elements, based on the theory of creeping currents
The mathematical models were implemented as programme procedures and solved numerically with the aid of standard programmes. The model simulates the movement of each compass component for given ship movements (location, course, speed, waves etc.) and given time configurations. In the course of this project, a new singularity-free description of finite rotations was developed and implemented (H.G.Matthies, J.H.Pöpplau, Applications of a Singularity-free Three Parameter Description of Finite Rotations in Mechanics ZAMM 66, Berlin 1986).

Phone: 040 / 51 437 - 0
Fax: 040 / 51 437 - 130
e-mail: Vertrieb@caitec.de
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