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PhD Candidate: Hydrodynamic Modelling of Autonomous Vessels (Position Filled)
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Trondheim, Norway
MSc./BSc. years experience
Posted: 15-04-2021

Company: Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Skills: PhD Candidate
Experience: MSc./BSc. years
Education: Background in marine hydrodynamics
Employment type: Full time
Location: Trondheim, Norway

PhD Candidate in KSP ProfSea The Department of Marine Technology, NTNU has a vacancy for a PhD Candidate within hydrodynamic performance of ship maneuvering in following seas.

Authorized Jobs in the next location(s): Norway
Company details

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology is a public research university in Norway with the main campus in Trondheim and smaller campuses in Gjøvik and Ålesund. The largest university in Norway, NTNU has over 8,000 employees and over 40,000 students.
Requirements & Summary

The Department of Marine Technology, NTNU, has a vacancy for a PhD Candidate within hydrodynamic performance of ship maneuvering in following seas.

Introduction of automatically controlled ships with various degree of autonomy represent a vast potential in maritime transportation and is expected to have an increasing impact on ship design and operation in the years to come. Automatic steering control systems for ships have to deal with dynamic and complex impacts from and interactions with the environment, which represent challenges for safe and energy-efficient operation. Ships in following waves, particularly large waves with length close to the ship-length, might experience problems with steering and directional stability (broaching). For autonomous and automatically controlled ships, and for ships operated by inexperienced crew, automatic systems that can react and control ship motions properly in these situations are needed to ensure safe operation. Automatic control systems for ship propulsion and steering (autopilot) are currently designed to not respond to the variations imposed by each wave passing. However, this strategy can lead to unfavorable or inadequate operation in following seas. It is hypothesized that controlling the propeller (revolution speed and/or pitch) and rudder through each wave passing in following seas, might improve operational safety and energy efficiency under such conditions. To be able to develop adequate control algorithms for this purpose, there is a need for better knowledge of the integrated hydrodynamic performance of the hull, propulsion- and steering units when operating in following waves.

The research work of the PhD Candidate will focus on the combined hydrodynamic influences of the ship maneuvering and seakeeping performance in following sea conditions, with aim to develop rational physical-based numerical models suitable for automatic control applications. This means computationally efficient time-domain simulation models for prediction of hydrodynamic loads and resulting ship motions and responses with sufficient level of accuracy. The influence of wind loads must also be considered. Original validation data from model tests and full-scale measurements will be available to the candidate from other parts of the funding research project.

The PhD Candidate will be part of the research project KSP ProfSea, hosted by Department of Marine Technology at NTNU, as one of two PhD positions funded by the project. Being part of KSP ProfSea facilitates close collaboration with the research- and industry partners of the project.

Collaboration with the other PhD Candidate of the project, who will focus on the automatic control aspects, is foreseen.

You will report to the Supervisor.

Duties of the position:
Take part in the mandatory PhD research education program
Conduct independent research as described above, and publish the results in recognized scientific journals, in cooperation with your PhD supervisors
Participate and present your work in project meetings as required









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