Preliminary Design of a 10,000-Ton Lifting Capacity Floating Dry Dock with SIL for Dynamic Ballast System Control
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70554/OBJK2026.v02n02.05Keywords:
Floating dry dock, Preliminary design, Software in the Loop (SIL), Dynamic Control, Ballast, Stability, BuoyancyAbstract
This work presents the preliminary design of a floating dry dock with a rated lifting capacity of 10,000~t, intended to operate in the Bay of Cartagena, Colombia. The design follows the ABS rules ``Steel Floating Dry Docks'' (January 2022) and checks the requirements for stability, structural strength, and minimum freeboard. The main dimensions were obtained from regressions built on similar vessels and floating docks, giving a maximum immersion draft of 14.91~m; together with the local bathymetry, this made Bajos de Pasacaballo (up to 18.5~m deep) the most suitable site. MAXSURF Modeler was used for the hull model and MAXSURF Stability to analyze five load cases. The structural weight was first estimated at 6,700~t, then adjusted to 7,073.02~t with the Harvald \& Juncher method, and finally refined to 5,075.76~t after a more detailed take-off; the stability analyses used the lightweight based on the initial estimate (7,004.84~t), whereas the cost estimate used the refined take-off. The midship section was checked with MARS 2000, and the ballast dynamics were modeled as a damped motion under wave action and simulated in LabVIEW with local data. The estimated direct construction cost is about COP 123.74 billion. Within the scope of this preliminary design and the load cases analyzed, the dock meets the ABS stability, strength, and freeboard requirements that were checked, and Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) simulation provides a first approach to the study of its ballast control.
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