Hopper Structure Design And Research Of Large Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger

Dredger is a working ship using of mechanical equipment digging underwater mud and other sediments, it is widely used in dredging, port construction, land reclamation, trenching and backfilling of seabed and other different fields. There are several kinds of dredgers, such as bucket dredger, dipper dredger, grab dredger, cutter suction dredger, trailing suction hopper dredger and etc. Trailing suction hopper dredger combines digging, loading, transport and dumping functions in one,it has flexible operation, strong resisting wind and wave ability and high efficiency of working, so it has good prospects for development both in the domestic and foreign dredging market, and it is gradually developed from small to large and even very large types in recent years.As an important part of trailing suction hopper dredger, the hopper which is in the middle of the hull, is directly related to the strength of the hull. Meanwhile, the hopper capacity is an important indicator of economic performance of trailing suction hopper dredger, so the hopper design will have a direct relationship to the success of the whole ship design. Based on the design of hopper structure for large trailing suction hopper dredger, this thesis describes the design features of hopper detailedly, including longitudinal strength, hopper floors, bottom doors, box keel, cross beams, hopper longitudinal bulkheads, transverse bulkheads and other special strengthening and so on.With the large-scalization of trailing suction hopper dredger, the bottom doors and other mechanical equipment to be increased correspondingly, so that the hopper floors spacing, length-breadth ratio (L/B), breadth-depth ratio (B/D) and other parameters does not meet the design conditions of classification society rules. On the other hand, with the large-scalization of trailing suction hopper dredger, experience from small ships can not be applied mechanically to large ships, so it is necessary to analyze, compare and evaluate the results scientifically to get the best design by direct calculation. This thesis adopts finite element analysis and optimization analysis for hopper structure, it also have achieved certain results and will provide technical reference for large or very large trailing suction hopper dredgers.