Motion model and dredging accuracy of trailing suction hopper dredger

Trailing suction hopper dredgers (TSHD) are widely-used in construction of channels and ports. Under deepwater and adverse circumstances, the dredging accuracy of trailing suction hopper dredger is an important issue to be solved in practice project. For predicting the motion of draghead and controlling overdepth and overwidth dredging, a mathematical model of motion for trailing suction hopper dredger-draghead system is developed, considering the manoeuvring forces of ship, wind force, wave force, current force and other hydrodynamic parameters, as well as the resistance of soil on the draghead, which is tested and verified by full-scale ship test measuring. The influence of water depth, wind, wave, current and soil on dredging accuracy are investigated under the manoeuvrings.