Marcelo A. S. Neves

Stability of small fishing vessels in longitudinal waves

The dynamic stability of fishing vessels in longitudinal regular waves is investigated, both analytically and experimentally. In particular, the influence of stern shape on the parametric stability of fishing vessels is studied. Vessels TS and RS have very similar main characteristics, but their sterns are different. Although their linear responses are comparable, both analytical and experimental investigations indicate substantial differences in their dynamic stability in longitudinal regular waves. Strong resonances are found for the vessel with the deep transom. The analytical method takes into consideration the effects of the heave and pitch motions and wave passage and shows good agreement with experimental results. Stability limits are obtained for different conditions and are used as an aid in the discussion of the results obtained in the tests when relevant parameters are changed, such as wave amplitude and frequency, metacentric height and roll damping moment.

Effectiveness of current disinfection procedures against biofilm on contaminated GI endoscopes

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Attention to patient safety has increased recently due to outbreaks of nosocomial infections associated with GI endoscopy. The aim of this study was to evaluate current cleaning and disinfection procedures of endoscope channels with high bioburden and biofilm analysis, including the use of resistant mycobacteria associated with postsurgical infections in Brazil. METHODS Twenty-seven original endoscope channels were contaminated with organic soil containing 10(8) colony-forming units/mL of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, or Mycobacterium abscessus subsp bolletii. Biofilms with the same microorganisms were developed on the inner surface of channels with the initial inoculum of 10(5) colony-forming units/mL. Channels were reprocessed following current protocol, and samples from cleaning and disinfection steps were analyzed by bioluminescence for adenosine triphosphate, cultures for viable microorganisms, and confocal microscopy. RESULTS After contamination, adenosine triphosphate levels increased dramatically, and high bacterial growth was observed in all cultures. After cleaning, adenosine triphosphate levels decreased to values comparable to precontamination levels, and bacterial growth was demonstrated in 5 of 27 catheters, 2 with P aeruginosa and 3 with M abscessus. With regard to induced biofilm, a remarkable reduction occurred after cleaning, but significant microbial growth inhibition occurred only after disinfection. Nevertheless, viable microorganisms within the biofilm were still detected by confocal microscopy, more so with glutaraldehyde than with peracetic acid or O-phataladehyde. CONCLUSION After the complete disinfection procedure, viable microorganisms could still be detected within the biofilm on endoscope channels. Prevention of biofilm development within endoscope channels should be a priority in disinfection procedures, particularly for ERCP and EUS.

On the Occurrence of Mathieu Instabilities of Vertical Cylinders

Large offshore platforms with vertical circular cylindrical hull shapes have been designed and employed in recent times. Classical spar platforms and mono-column concepts are just two examples of designs with such simple configuration, supposed to perform limited motion responses in waves. Reports on investigations on the occurrence of parametric resonance of spar platforms have been published recently in which the relevance of Mathieu amplifications have been assessed making use of different mathematical models. However, some uncertainties still remain on the influence of crucial design parameters as, for instance, metacentric height, draft/diameter ratio, associated damping and mooring system. In an attempt to clarify some of these aspects, in this paper the dynamic stability of a vertical cylinder in regular waves is investigated theoretically and experimentally. A coupled non-linear mathematical model is employed to model and simulate the coupled heave, roll and pitch motions. Theoretical aspects related to the development of resonant motions are discussed. In addition to the numerical and theoretical investigations, an extensive series of experiments with a model of a typical mono-column have been recently conducted at LabOceano. The findings of these investigations are compared and summarized.Copyright

Nonlinear Dynamics on Parametric Rolling of Ships in Head Seas

The present paper employs nonlinear dynamics tools in order to investigate the dynamical characteristics governing the complex coupling of the heave, roll and pitch modes in head seas at some regions of the numerical stability map of a fishing vessel. Bifurcation diagrams and Poincare mappings are computed and employed to investigate the appearance of multistability and chaos associated with increased values of the selected control parameter, the wave amplitude. The connection between these nonlinear characteristics and the coupled nature of the mathematical model are analyzed. Lyapunov exponents corresponding to the three coupled models are computed.

Influence of Sloshing on the Transfer of Water Between Neighbouring Compartments Considering Three Different Opening Configurations

Model tests to generate validation data for the codes predicting the sloshing and progression of water through an opening in case of a damaged ship were planned and performed. Behaviour of the flooding water after the damage is greatly dependent on the internal compartment geometries and vessel motions. Vessels angular position and motions in turn are affected by the flooding water. Thus accurate prediction of this strongly coupled flooding phenomenon requires simultaneous solving of the ship motions and behaviour of the internal water. In order to produce validation data for calculation methods for internal flood water behaviour, tests for water motion between two connected neighbouring compartments were designed. Model tests concentrated purely on the internal sloshing motion under forced compartment motions, thus uncoupling the vessel response.Copyright

Nonlinear Instabilities of Spar Platforms in Waves

Spars are widely recognized as an excellent choice for deep water applications due to their hydrodynamic characteristics. However, some relatively recent works report the occurrence of large motions in the plane perpendicular to wave incidence direction, i.e., not directly excited by waves. These unstable motions have been attributed to Mathieu instabilities, caused by pure hydrostatic variations of the underwater hull geometry. Based on a new approach developed by the Authors for predicting parametric rolling in ships, this nonlinear phenomenon has been investigated for spar platforms. The proposed approach demonstrates analytical and numerically that unstable motions, in fact, may appear, but the mechanism that triggers parametric rolling is not related to variations in the hull hydrostatic characteristics. Nonlinear pressure variations induced by waves passing along the spar introduce parametric excitation. Different from typical ship forms, where this effect is negligible even in very long waves due to shorter draughts, in spars, this excitation can be significant, especially for very long waves. The present paper presents the analytical expressions for roll parametric excitation in spars and numerically explores the proposed approach applied to a typical spar under a wide range of wave heights and periods. Parametric Amplification Domains (PADs) were numerically computed, showing not only the boundaries of the instability regions but also the maximum roll amplitudes.Copyright

Domains of Parametric Roll Amplification for Different Hull Forms

A new 6-DOF nonlinear mathematical model based on Taylor-series expansions with coupling terms defined up to the third-order is introduced and validatedl for head seas parametric rolling for the case of a fishing vessel and a container vessel. Additionally, a large and deep drafted cylindrical SPAR platform is also simulated. The nonlinear algorithm is systematically simulated for different wave conditions. Parametric amplification domains (PADs) are thus obtained for the three hulls. On a comparative basis some of their main characteristics are then examined: influence of coupling, relevance of third-order coupling terms, impact of roll/roll nonlinearities, influence of wave amplitude, and initial conditions. The main differences in the PADs for the three distinct floating vessels are then interpreted and aspects of interest for the modeling and simulation of different hull forms are discussed.

An Investigation on the Excitation of Yaw Parametric Resonance of a Tension Leg Platform

The paper summarizes some aspects of a series of model experiments conducted with a Tension Leg Platform (in fact a Tension Leg Wellhead Platform) in close proximity with a FPSO emphasizing the types of coupled motions taking place. It is observed that as the yaw motion develops increasing amplitudes the sway motion is reduced, pointing out to an interesting exchange of energy between the sway and yaw modes. This should be recognized as a revealing aspect of strongly non-linear coupled parametric resonant motions. A mathematical model is proposed to describe the main aspects of the two-body moored system and hydrodynamic interactions. In principle a 12-DOF model is contemplated. Numerical simulations are compared to the time series obtained from the experiments showing adequate agreement. However, in this paper the essential coupling of sway and yaw is distinguished in order to typify the Mathieu-type instability as being the main mechanism behind the onset of large yaw motions of the TLP unit.Copyright

A Nonlinear Numerical Algorithm for Time-Domain Hydrodynamic Simulations of Vessel Motions in the Presence of Waves

Linear approaches have been traditionally employed to simulate the dynamic behavior of floating vessels and its interaction with regular or irregular waves. Some difficulties arise when large waves and vessel motions occur. Under these circumstances, the linear assumptions to compute the restoring and wave forces, which are computed on the mean position of body and water surface, are not capable of accurately representing the physics of the interactions between waves and vessels.Hydrostatic analysis of generic hull forms has already been implemented with a geometrical face representation of the hull and also internal ballast and oil tanks [1]. With the goal of improving the modeling the non-linear computation of hydrostatic in waves (at the instantaneous free surface) is implemented, thus using a generic geometric modeling of the hull to perform hydrodynamic simulations of vessel motions in the presence of waves. Additionally, for the computation of the instantaneous non-linear Froude-Krylov force (6 DOF time-domain model) the contribution of each geometrical face to the global Froude-Krylov force is calculated at the exact relative position of the vessel and the incident waves. After computing the relative position of each face, possibly being cut at the free surface, the pressure at the wetted face centers determines the contribution to the integral calculation.The paper presents the main aspects of the proposed methodology and highlights its capabilities and differences with respect to the linear approach. Complementarily, comparisons with model experiments are discussed.Copyright

A Numerical Investigation on 2D and 3D Sloshing Effects

In this paper, we study the effect of sloshing in a compartment of a naval artifact. The sloshing is of great importance in the dynamics of ships and offshore platforms, it is one of the factors that may cause the capsizing. This happens when the ship is under undesirable conditions, such as progressive flooding or fault conditions. The goal is to represent numerically the effect of sloshing. The numerical code is validated through comparisons with numerical and experimental data obtained in the literature. The numerical model is based on the finite difference method, where the Euler equations are solved using the upwind scheme and TVD (Total Variation Diminishing) Roe (1984) and Sweby (1984). The computer code for 2D represents the effect of sloshing in a closed vessel. To adequately represent the reservoir of the naval artifact, we used a structured computational mesh, where the fluid is forced to move by the excitation applied to the tank, this type of excitation is harmonic in sway. For the 3D computer code, a sloped free surface elevation is used as initial condition. Another attempt to realize the versatility of the computer code was the fall of a sphere of water on the free surface of the tank.Copyright