Modeling and experimental research of quay crane cargo lowering processes

Abstract

This article studies an operational problem arising at a container terminal. Klaipeda city port operations were surveilled up close and relevant remarks were made. The time efficiency of the existing container-lowering procedures using the simulation studies with a test-bed and with a real life crane operation was examined. Statistical analysis of the experimental results has showed that non-automated processes have higher time variance for the lowering process. The operations of quay crane for container handling ‘‘ship-to-shore’’ were analyzed, and lowering procedures time variations were determined. Each container is transported at operators own risk and with pre-defined time efficiency; therefore, it is hard to predict the optimal time for each container handling operation, thus, eventually, additional costs arise. Mathematical model was developed, which described dynamical characteristics of the container movement during lowering procedures. The lowering crane operation was modeled using known dynamic values for each separate case, and the complexity of the problem was proven. The results of modeling and experimental results show that it is possible to achieve optimal values with the existing processes.