Development of Experimental Facility for Roll-On Roll-Off Ramp Isolation Dynamics

摘要

It has been determined that a high stress state occurs in the Roll-on Roll-off (RORO) ship offload stem ramp during vehicle transfers in Sea State 3 conditions. Motion compensation systems (i.e. isolators) between the ramp and the barge (RRDF) are needed to minimize the high stress levels in the ramp. This thesis documents the design, analysis, and construction of a facility to evaluate the performance of candidate isolation systems to be used to minimize ramp stresses. The facility consists of a fabricated aluminum scale ramp model designed to mimic the structural dynamics of a full-scale ramp, a fabricated supporting structure and an actuator that simulates wave motion inputs to the barge-end of the isolator.