THE MODELING OF THE SWING WINCHES OF A CUTTER DREDGE IN RELATION WITH SIMULATORS

When developing a simulator for cutter suction dredges, the different processes have to be considered non-stationary and dynamical. A simulator usually consists of a combination of input by a user and hard- and software processing this input and generating output. In the case of a cutter suction dredge simulator the manual control of the swing winches, by means of joysticks, is one of the important inputs for the simulation process. The position of the joysticks determines a set point for either the swing velocity or the revolutions of the hauling swing winch. By means of a control algorithm the hauling winch will generate a hauling torque, while the braking winch exerts a brake torque. This results in pulling forces in both the swing wires. These forces, combined with the cutting forces and the current forces, result in a rotation around the active spud. This rotation can be described with the equilibrium equation of the dredge around the active spud