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Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/ACCESS.2017.Doi Number

Analysis and Simulation of the Electrical-

Differential System of a Grab-Ship-Unloader-
Crane
Yuantao Sun1, Chongyang Huang1, Qing Zhang1, Yuan Liu 2, Lin Liang2
1
College of Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 201804, People’s Republic of China
2
China Special Equipment Inspection and Research Institute, Beijing 100029, People’s Republic of China
Corresponding author: Lin Liang (e-mail: [email protected]).

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2018YFC0808902).

ABSTRACT In the field of port handling for bulk-cargo with heavy load and high speed, the differential
gear box is usually used for towing wire ropes, and then realizing the Horizontal transport and vertical
unloading of goods. However, the design and manufacture of gear device which is difficult to maintenance
is of high cost. Thus, there is a kind of electric differential system to realize the loading and unloading of
cargo at present. This paper focus on the transmission mode and the process of loading-unloading of electric
differential device. With the kinematic model based on the Lagrange’s equation, the electrical differential
system state model is established. Several AMESim simulations of the system is used to analyzing the energy
transfer of combined action under the condition of electric differential. It helps to learn which path are used
and the proportion on each line of energy. Finally, in this paper, the difference of the energy transfer
characteristics between the traditional mechanical transmission and the electrical differential drive system are
analyzed. It provides guidance for design and use of equipment transmission system.

INDEX TERMS ASMSim, electrical differential, energy transfer, Lagrange’s equation

I. INTRODUCTION goods and products at lower costs and in shorter times is an

The port has always been a transit point for international trade. important issue nowadays. Therefore, more efficient and
The development of the port has shortened the transportation powerful, more productive yet energy-saving bulk material
time and distance between international trade[1].Delivering handling machineries are needed.

FIGURE 1. The grab bucket ship unloader used in harbor disposition for containers

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Fig.1 shows one kind of such machineries called the grab better and cheaper solution. The formal theory comparison
bucket ship unloader. Because this kind of machine is versatile made by WANG Junhu & WANG Yuemin is interesting
in function and easy for maintenance, it is widely accepted and because they first do a clear modeling of the needs of the grab
used in the world. Its unloading capacity per hour is ranged bucket and the means of the differential[2].
from several hundred tons to over 4000 tons per hour. This In view of advantages of electrical driving technology
kind of machines should be designed carefully for efficiency applying in high power crane, ZHANG Huiyan[3] proposed a
and economic purposes. The control of drums is a critical part method of coordinated work for the four drums. They focus
of the unloading process, and its reliability and economy on the basic structure of the electrical differential and the
directly affect the working state of the ship unloader. The hardware configuration, and linking dynamical parameters in
purpose of the paper is about the comparison between the the input of the motor such as current and voltage with the
differential gearbox and electrical differential and deals with output parameters such as torque and speed. They use
different aspect such as kinematics and dynamics analysis. experimental data for validating the whole model and the
hypothesis about the hardware configuration.
Other paper proposed to focus on control system of the four-
drum grab bucket ship unloader electrical differential control
system. JI Chenzhon[4] focuses on the control law for allowing
simultaneous operation with different speed. It particularly
develops the control block law, the system function of the
communication between all electrical block and how the
system implements function of synchronization, control,
protection.
one of the main difficulties and goals for system to have low
time sequence and good reliability is synchronization[5], the
importance of synchronization for the four rolls of electrical
gearboxes is that they are linked by calculation, not by
mechanical stress like the differential gearbox solution. Zhou
1 – drums 2 – Support pulley 3 – Opening and closing pulley 4 – The Tieliang[6] describe methods of synchronization and the sub
trolley 5 – Rope connector 6 – grab bucket 7 – Transition pulley programs modules for synchronization. They show how the
FIGURE 2. Moving parts from crane to drums in electrical differential cost could be reduced by smart function, especially for
scheme maintenance and spare parts. They give design principles for
A ship unloader, which is presented in Fig.2, has four the electrical differential system.
moving mechanism. They are the traverse trolley, the two The paper is structured as follows: In Section 2 we give a
main hoist mechanism for holding and opening/closing of grab, short presentation of electrical differential gearbox, and give a
and the main boom luffing mechanism. Because the trolley comparison between differential gearbox and electrical
and the grab bucket will move along the entire boom, its differential gearbox. In Section 3 we use the Lagrange
weight has significant influence on the structure, the entire Equation to analyze the dynamics, kinematics and energy of
machine and even the wharf’s underwater infrastructure. The the electrical gearbox, followed by several AMESim
grab bucket is more important than the trolley because it does simulations of energy transfer characteristics of differential
the lifting motion which consumes more energy. One key for gearbox and electrical differential gearbox in Section 4.
unloader design is to optimize the weight of the grab bucket Additionally, the electrical gearbox will be analyzed by the
and the trolley. By well using the differential gearbox in kinematic and energetic model in order to figure out energy,
different configuration, it can be optimized. power consumption, dynamical and kinematic characteristics
Currently there are two main solutions, the first is a full of electrical differential system. At last, we give some results
mechanical one which uses three electrics motors, two and hope that this paper will help for further gearbox design.
gearboxes with a high level of mechanical complexity. The
high level of complexity is because the two gearboxes share II. Electrical Differential System
the axis of one motor and contain many differentials and many A. Presentation of Electrical Gearbox
epicyclical gears. This solution is frequently use for gantry The four-motor electrical differential system is a new kind of
crane. This mechanical solution allows reflow of power inside electrical control technology. The utility system is composed
the gearbox for the system. The second is a electro-technical of four sets of motors, inverters, gearboxes, brakes and drums
solution which uses four electrics motor with four gearbox. with the same structure. Through reliable and precise electric
Most papers in this category didn’t do a direct comparison speed control, we can realize the vertical movement of Grab
between two solutions.it remains that the differential gearbox and the horizontal movement of trolley. And, the electrical
is the most used technology on grab ship unloader but the gearbox is an alternative solution to the differential gearbox.
electrical differential take quickly the market by becoming a Instead of having a complex gearbox between the two motors

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and the two drums in same side, the flow of energy is couple of motors and gearboxes can be sized from the drum
independent for each drum. Each drum owns its own gearbox load.
and motor. As the drum is directly linked to the motor, each

(a) (b)
(a) A real photo (b) A sketch map
FIGURE. 3. Scheme of the electrical gearbox
The Fig.3 represents the Scheme of the total electrical means there could be only one direction of symmetry. This
gearbox system. The sketch map of the system reveal that it symmetrical direction can be chosen according to specific
has two symmetry axes. This pattern is called AC motor- requirements. If the redivision is between shore and land, the
Gearbox- Drum group. system has the symmetry of the horizontal axis. If the
The synchronization is vital of electrical differential redivision is on the left and right sides, the system has a
gearbox. Currently, the balance of drum load has reached the symmetrical land-shore axis. The load distribution method on
level of symmetry. Because of the different performance of the the drum is similar to that on the differential gearbox, because
four ropes supporting the grab, there can be a balanced load it is the most convenient for the overall configuration, and the
between the two ropes but not between the four ropes. That load distribution on the motor part is not important.

(a) (b)

(c)
FIGURE.4. Possible load symmetry choice of electrical gearbox
The Fig.4 presents the three possible distributing ways of the third and first symmetric ways are used more frequently.
drum load, the graph above the drum represents the trend of The paper takes the last symmetry.
the load over time, its X-axis represents time, and the Y-axis
represents load. Distributing ways of drum load will influence B. Comparison between the Electrical Differential and
the size of the motor and the system. Therefore, one parameter the Differential Gearbox
of this system is the symmetry axis of drum load. The last Almost all papers on the electrical differential gearbox only
symmetry way makes the load same between shore and land deal with the single kind of differential gearbox, they never
when the grab bucket moving diagonally. In some literature, directly do a comparison between the two differential ways.

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When a gearbox is fitted between the load and the motor, it also mentioned. The left side motor and the right side motor
will have an effect on the torque, speed and inertia, so the are both induction machine with squirrel cage, they have the
gearbox here is used to match the drive to the load. In practice, same electronic controller and same speed, torque and power
the high rotational speed of the motor makes the low torque output. The torque and speed brought from the traction motor
cannot directly drive the crane. And most gearboxes (as the can be considered same.
one used for gantry cranes) are used as reduction gearbox to
reduce the rotational speed. As the speed is reduced, with the
conservation of the power, the torque is increased.
Motor Motor

Tractior
Motor

FIGURE.7. Load symmetry in differential gearbox

FIGURE. 5. Picture of the differential gearbox with motor and drum
The electrical gearbox has an architectural difference with
Some papers sometimes referred to the motor shaft as the
the differential gearbox. This difference firstly leads to a cost
high-speed shaft (HSS) and the load shaft (here the drum) is
difference. The electrical gearbox requests a bigger motor, and
sometimes referred to as the low-speed shaft (LSS). It does
this could lead to bigger consumption of energy, it costs more,
easily explain that the high speed of the motor with a low
unless there is a special energy control system, like the energy
torque and the low speed of the drum with a high torque. In
reflow system that used on the differential gearbox. Through
Fig.5，the differential gearbox used in the system is a picked
the reflow of energy, the differential gearbox makes the size
example by the Chinese manufacturer ZPMC. The model
of the differential motor smaller[7]. Also, the differential
developed in this paper not only concretes data on gearbox but
system uses the differential gearbox to balance the energy
also works for more general situation for other unloading
between the two drums, which is impossible for electrical
system.
gearbox. In general, the electrical gearbox system is
structurally simpler than the differential gearbox.

4 4 III. Model
A. Presentation of Lagrange Equation
5 3 This section presents a more specific method for calculating
the power of the system. When describing the motions of
object, Newton's laws work well if the objects are
undergoing constant acceleration, but they are not suitable
4 4 for varying accelerations and complex system. Therefore, the
paper presents a method based on kinetic energy to make the
solution easier.
1 There are different methods to derive the dynamic
2 equations of a dynamic system. As final result, all of them
1 – Traction motor 2 – Planetary differential gear bloc provide sets of equivalent equations, but the mathematical
3 – Right side motor 4 – Drums 5 – Left side motor. descriptions of these equations differ in their computational
FIGURE.6. Differential gearbox capabilities and in their insight into underlying mechanical
Fig.6 presents the principle sketch of a differential gearbox. problems. Lagrange method depends on energy balances, the
It makes up of three motors (label 1, 3 and 5), two gearboxes equation is calculated in a closed way, and an analytical
(label 2) and four drums (label 4). When the traction motor has method suitable for most systems is obtained. It doesn't
a greater effect on the speed of the drum through the gear require vector information or the solving for constraint
frame of each planetary gear in the gearbox, the motors on the forces as all of them are unknown in the system. Energy is
left and right sides provide the main part of the power. the key issue. Lagrange method deals with various forms of
As Fig.7 shows, there is a symmetry of mechanical design energy. For objects in motion, there is kinetic energy Ke.
and behavior for the system. This symmetry will be explained which is a scalar quantity. There is also the potential and the
point by point later and that how it improves system will be dissipative energy. The paper focuses on the mechanical part

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3
from the drum to the crane and that will not include
electronic part. Table 1 is given by direct application of the
4
Opening
following principle.
Table 1 is given by direct application of the Lagrange's
equation. The principle of Lagrange's equation is stated in 2 5
the following: “For a dynamic system in which the work of
all forces is accounted by the Lagrangian, the permissible
motion between specific configurations of the system at time
t1 and t2 is natural, if and only if the energy of the system
6
remains constant. “
Table.1. Factors and their levels 7
1
Energy Mechanical

Kinetic Ke (Inertia | Mass)

1
𝐾𝑒 = 𝑗 𝜔² |𝐾𝑒 = 𝑚. 𝑣²
1 8
2 2
Closing
1
Potential V (Gravity | Spring) 𝑉 = 𝑚. 𝑔. ℎ | V = . 𝑘. 𝑥²
2
FIGURE. 8.Example of cycle for the crane with dimension
for a 50000 DWT boat
1
Dissipative .𝐵 .𝑣 ² The crane can do two motions in the same time which is
2
time-saving and more efficient. The cycle for the gantry
The Lagrangian is a quantity that describes the balance crane begins with the grab bucket inside the boat, with the
between non-dissipative energies. It is a second-order grab bucket in closed position and the load is already inside
differential equation. it. This is also called 'low position' or 'first position' in the
1 literature. There are eight steps that are below:
𝐿 = 𝐾𝑒 − 𝑉 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐾𝑒 = . 𝑚. 𝑣 2 ; 𝑉 = 𝑚. 𝑔. ℎ (1)
2 1-The grab bucket was hoisted out of the boat and reached
Lagrange’s Equation: a height of 5 meters.
𝑑 𝜕𝐿 𝜕𝐿 𝜕𝑃
( )− + = 𝑄𝑖 (2) 2-The grab bucket makes diagonal motion to reach a
𝑑𝑡 𝜕𝑞̇ 𝑖 𝜕𝑞𝑖 𝜕𝑞̇ 𝑖
With: P is power function, Qi are generalized external horizontal position of 3.25 m from the unloading system
inputs forces acting on the system. If there are three (also known as the hopper).
generalized coordinates, there will be three equations. In the 3-The grab bucket performs a horizontal movement of
gantry crane system, there is one degree of freedom, because 3.25 meters to reach the top of the unloading system
the system is linked by the kinematic model which fix the 4-The grab bucket opens to unload into the hopper.
motion of the system[8]. 5-The grab bucket goes back with horizontal movement.
6-The grab bucket makes a diagonal movement back
B. The power needed as the output of the gearboxes
directly above the boat.
A complete cycle is important to understand the power and 7-The grab bucket goes vertically into the boat.
energy required by the system. One period starts at the 8-The grab bucket is closed and loaded.
beginning of the cycle and ends when the grab returns to its After the 8th step, the cycle finishes. The cycle starts again
original position. until the holds on bulk carrier is empty. This solution seems
The basic cycle consists of the six movements of the grab. so efficient.
The cycle starts with the grab bucket grabbing the cargo The arrangement of a gantry crane relies on many
inside the bulk carrier and closing it. The action is performed parameters, such as the boat, the water tide, the location of
in sequence, ascending to a higher position, moving the harbor. Tides are especially worth considering due to
horizontally above the hopper, and opening the grab in the changes in weight during unloading. Because the water level
hopper. The grab then does a horizontal movement back and of a ship is determined by the waterline and has a fixed
then a vertical descent to load the bulk cargo. The path of the position at the water's edge. And the gantry crane is fixed on
entire process is shown as the dotted line in Fig.8. But this the landside. Tides are changes in water level relative to the
cycle saves neither energy nor time, so we improved the land side which depends on the motion of sun and moon. The
cycle by changing the vertical and horizontal motion of the water does two tide cycles in one day. The paper assumes the
grab to a diagonal motion, shortening the path and saving the level of the load in the boat. Because when a boat has a full
cycle time. Which is shown in Fig.8. load, it has a very high waterline, and when it's almost empty,
his waterline is very low. This means that the ship's altitude
relative to the land varies greatly with different loads.
A second consideration is about the number of holds on
bulk carrier. As for Cape-size bulk carrier (bulk carrier that

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are sized to pass the Cape Town), the cargo area can be weight of the rope because they are an important load. The
divided up to ten holds. When the hold is unloaded, in order pulleys rotated around a beam's axis are guide for the rope.
to avoid bending damage of keel, they have a special The exterior shape of the pulley is U-Shape to provide
sequence. When the gantry crane unloads the first hold, the guidance for the rope. The guide pulleys lead the steel rope
waterline remains high from start to finish. In this case the from the crane to the drum. There are some structures on the
vertical path of the grab bucket is longer because the crane to avoid the rope to touch some parts of the gantry
waterline is high (that means the bottom of the boat goes crane. There are ten pulleys on the gantry crane. The inertia
deep into the water) and the few remaining loads are at the of the pulley is so small that it's neglected, compared to the
bottom of the boat. In the opposite, when the grab bucket inertia of the drum. The motion of the pulley is not a part of
begins to unload the last hold, the waterline is low and with the system computation as the pulley rotates around a beam's
the goods are in the top of the hold, the path is the shorter. fixed axis and they only make some friction loss with the
This variation can be measured by the possible variation of rope, so the friction loss is neglected. The trolley is put on
the waterline of the boat and the depth of his hold, with a rail to assure the horizontal path of the grab bucket, the
little variation because of the remaining goods and the translation is realized by pulley. The trolley is at the vertical
already unload goods in the case. position above the grab bucket and the horizontal position is
∆ℎ𝑏𝑜𝑎𝑡 = ∆ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 + ∆𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 (3) the same as the grab bucket. Crane contains four pulleys
The vertical distance that the grab bucket travels is the guide. The drums are used to pull and drop the rope. They
function of some independent factors that are unknown. The maintain the constant tension of the rope. The drums have a
unloading can be done on a wide range of boat, as different diameter of 1.2 meters and a length of 2.6 meters. The rope
gantry crane can be designed during few days. The vertical is rolled up around the drum and there are groove guide for
distance mainly depends on: the rope on the drum's surface. The drum inertia is taken by
-The size of the gantry crane (position of the hopper, size calculation. For a cylinder, the inertia is calculated as the
of the structure). next formula:
-The design of the boat. 1 2 2
𝐽 = ∗ 𝑀 ∗ (𝑅𝑜𝑢𝑡 + 𝑅𝑖𝑛 ) (6)
-The load of the boat. 2
-The current level of unloading. The mass can be calculated by approximately estimating
-The level of the tide. the drum with a minimal rope mass around it. As mass is
Due to these factors, the vertical distance can vary up to given by the manufacturer, it is useful to check the mass by
several meters under the same unloading conditions. calculation.
∆ℎ𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 = ∆ℎ𝑏𝑜𝑎𝑡 + ∆ℎ𝑡𝑖𝑑𝑒 (4) With:
At the moment, a fixed vertical distance is chosen for the -𝐽 is the inertia of drum in kg.m²
article. This value is taken according to the different average -𝑀 is the mass of the drum in kg
2
parameters. -𝑅𝑜𝑢𝑡 is the outside radius of the drum in meter
2
𝐻 = ℎ𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 + ℎ𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑦𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑒 (5) -𝑅𝑖𝑛 is the inside radius of the drum in meter
After the vertical distance is considered, a kinematic
analysis will be taken. It's necessary to do a weight and C. Power result
inertia analysis of all components. In a full crane cycle, there Using an existing model of gantry crane from the Chinese
are different kinds of weight and energy working on the manufacturer ZPMC as the instance for the energetic
drum. The load and inertia are created by all moving part, as calculation. In this instance, two hypotheses are used:
the grab bucket (with the load), the rope, the trolley, the 1. The grab bucket has the same speed as the rope. The
guide pulleys, the four drums, the gearboxes and the motors. pulley has no torque ratio or speed ratio.
There are two dynamic approaches of this situation, the one 2. The grab bucket's horizontal speed is the same as the
through the force/torque computation and another through trolley's speed.
Table.2. Characteristic for energetic model
the energy computation. The paper chooses to put on energy
computation and the data about the different parts is required. Name Value Unit
The first part is the grab bucket. The grab bucket is used Gravity value 9.81 m.s-2
to load. It consists of two curved claws and it's connected by Crab bucket weight 16000 Kg
a beam. There are also some claws designed due to the bigger Trolley weight 8382 Kg
capacity or specific requirement[9]. The second part is the rope weight 3548.2 Kg
ropes. There are four ropes on the gantry crane. The rope is
rope length 504 meter
the link between the grab bucket, the trolley and the drum.
Strings of steel cables are formed in a circle shape. Then six rope unit mass 7.04 kg/m
circles of steel string are laced together to be the rope. This one Drum weight 3148 Kg
steel cable assembly gives a better resilience than the sum of Drum interior radius 0.572 meter
the resilience of each string. It's impossible to neglect the

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Drum exterior radius 0.6 mete total energy for a landside drum (With Pdrum of landside) is:
2 𝑃𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙
One drum inertia 1082 kg.m 𝑃𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙−𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 =
4
The Table.2 presents the value needed for the energetic 𝑃𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏 ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 + 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒 + 𝑃𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑦
calculation. The Lagrange equations are applied in the + + 𝑃𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑚 (15)
2
system. The energy of grab bucket is considered as the sum And for the seaside drum (With Pdrum of seaside):
of potential energy (the vertical motion) and kinetic energy 𝑃𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙
(one from the horizontal motion and one from the vertical 𝑃𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙−𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 = + 𝑃𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑚 (16)
4
motion), they are separated depending on the direction of the When crane unloads from the boat to the hopper(the way
motion. The trolley is only considered with its kinematic back). The equations of total energy for a landside drum and
energy because it stays in the same altitude all the way. The for a seaside are:
potential energy of the rope is neglected; its energy is only 𝑃𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙
related to its speed of diagonal motion. The drum inertia is 𝑃𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙−𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 = + 𝑃𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑚 (17)
4
also related to the diagonal motion. 𝑃𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙
The rotating speed is calculated from the rotation relation, 𝑃𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙−𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 =
4
the drums are linked by the rope each other: 𝑃𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏 ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 + 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒 + 𝑃𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑦
𝑣𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒 + + 𝑃𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑚 (18)
𝜔𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑚 = (7) 2
𝑅𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑚 ∗ 60 The four power formulas which belong to the seaside and
The speed is measured in international units, radians per landside drums are composed into a total power formula. So
second. It describes the rotation speed of the drum at the total consumption of power is the sum of consumption of
different states according to the Table.2 (characteristic of the the seaside and landside drums.
parts) and the Table.1 (the different equation). The power of 𝑃𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = 2𝑃𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙−𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 + 2𝑃𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙−𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 (19)
grab bucket is: The maximum power consumed by the system is 2408kW,
𝑃𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏 = (𝑃𝑣 + 𝐾𝑒(𝑧) ) + 𝐾𝑒(𝑥) (8) which lasts for eight seconds. Just considering the efficiency
𝑃𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = 𝑃𝑣 + 𝐾𝑒(𝑧) (9) of the motor and without any power reflow of the gearbox,
𝑃𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏 ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 = 𝐾𝑒(𝑥) (10) the total power of the system is given above. It cannot be
considered as a fixed value because the power is not only
1 𝑚𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏 ∗ 𝑣𝑧 2
𝑃𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏 = (𝑚 ∗ 𝑔 ∗ 𝑣𝑧 + ∗ )+ unbalanced between all drums, but also among four
2 𝑡 independent groups of motor and gearbox.
1 𝑚𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏 ∗ 𝑣𝑥 2
∗ (11)
2 𝑡
The power consumed by the grab bucket is divided into
two categories from the motion, the left part in parenthesis is
the vertical motion and the right part is the horizontal motion.
The time value t, can be the total time of the motion or a
particular time, it depends on your choice. In order of
convenience, the value of t is fixed to one second as the table
set one second as the smaller step. A smaller value could
increase the quality of the result for transition motion. The
power consumed by the trolley is:
1 𝑚𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑦 ∗ 𝑣𝑥 2
𝑃𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑦 = ∗ (12)
2 𝑡
By the rope is:
2 2
1 𝑚𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒 |𝑣𝑠𝑒𝑎−𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒 | |𝑣𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑−𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒 |
𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒 = ∗ ∗( + ) (13) FIGURE.9. Drums power on a cycle
2 𝑡 2 2
The Fig.9 presents the evolution of the power transmitted
Vrope is calculated above. The power for one rotation drum from the drum to the moving parts during a cycle. The
calculated from the rotating inertia, it is computed as: division between most of the motions in Fig.9 is easy to
1 𝐽 ∗ (𝜔𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑚 (𝑡))2 understand. From 21 to 25 seconds, the grab stays in high
𝑃𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑚 = ∗ (14)
2 𝑡 position and opens. From 41 seconds to the end, the grab is
The drum's speed is related to the rope linked to this drum. returned to the ship, closed and loaded. The first diagonal
According to all above equations, it's possible to compute the motion is from 9 seconds to 16 seconds, the peak power of
power needed in the level of each drum step by step. Because landside drum is 315kW and for the seaside drum is 242 kW.
of the difference of the drums' position, there is a distinction The second diagonal motion is from 31 seconds to 36
between the seaside drum and the landside drum. When seconds, the peak power of landside drum is -61kW and -56
crane unloads from the boat to the hopper, the equation of

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kW for the seaside drum. The first seven seconds are a electrical gearbox, and compare with the dynamical model. A
constant acceleration of vertical motion. The power is set of different sensors will help to know the reflow of the
perfectly balanced between all drums. power in the differential gearbox and the energy flow inside it.
From seven to ten seconds, the grab bucket begins the The torque, speed and power of the two drums in same level
diagonal motion with the acceleration. At the 7 seconds, the are known, those will be used to set input and validate value.
difference between the two kinds of drum begin to appear. The section 2 gave a complete set of parameters to build the
The seaside drum has a lower inertia, because it's involved model of the differential gearbox and the electrical gearbox.
in a combination of horizontal and vertical motion, but it To build a good and reliable system on AMESim, a strategy is
doesn't provide much horizontal speed (which is the power set up. This will help to know if each part has the wanted
needed for the horizontal movement of the trolley, rope and behavior. The parts will be grouped, then the whole system
grab bucket). will be grouped and the differential simulation test will be
carried out.
IV. Energy flow
A. AMESim strategy B. AMESim model of differential gearbox
AMESim is simulation software for the analysis and The Fig.10 presents an advanced differential gearbox
modelling, the full name is LMS Imagine-Lab AMESim. It is AMESim model with area highlights. The green circles with
applicable to the field of systems engineering, can be a red link (sometimes with a red rod) are sensors. Sensors
mechanical, electronic, electromechanical, control, physical, with the letter E represent the power sensor, with the letter
thermal and hydraulic fields of system behavior analysis and W represents a speed sensor. The two green circles with the
prediction. Simulation uses a database of subcomponents letter T are sensors to do a conversion from signal to torque
model[10]. in units of N.m.
The purpose of AMESim simulation is to understand the
power consumption time history of differential gearbox and

FIGURE.10. Advanced model with highlighted section

There are gain sub models labelled k after each input. rotation direction with an easy way. The orange highlighted
They can be used for trying various input or changing the gain is set to -1. It's done because the rotation direction of the

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landside is the contrary of the seaside for the same motion, The Fig.12 presents the rotation speed of the drum in the
this helps to have the same positive curve and reading. Each land side for the differential gearbox model, the red curve is
sensor has a direction label with a little arrow. All sensors from the AMESim model done above, the green curve is
are pointed from left to right by convention. from the theory and the blue curve represents the difference
The two blue groups are used for the comparison of the between the two models (AMESim model minus theoretical
drum speed. The gain labelled k is equal to 2π. The two left model). The difference exists mainly for traction motion.
groups in pink are simple model for the motor. The k gain is
used if adjustments or trials are needed. The main motor gain
is set as -1 to ensure the good rotation model and a
corresponding group of rotation direction. The main motor
only has two speeds of 1000 and 1400 rpm. It could also be
0 rpm. The speed of the traction motor is 1200 rpm. Main
motor at 1400 rpm for the return trip of the crane's empty
grab. The speed of the main motor at 1000 rpm is used for
lifting. In the unloading cycle, the upward lifting motion
curve from 0 seconds to 25 seconds is as follows:

FIGURE.13. Sea side drum speed difference between models

The Fig.13 represents the rotation speed of the drum in the
sea side. The blue curve is from the AMESim simulation and
the red curve is from the theory. The difference between the
two curves is in green curve. As for the two models’ curve
on the land side, the first seven seconds are the same. After
that the theory model curve is upper than the AMESim
model curve. Because the curves of two models share a
homothetic difference, a ratio curve is set as below.
FIGURE.11. Motors rotation speed in differential gearbox advanced
AMESim model
The Fig.11 presents the rotation speed set for the main
motor in red curve and for the traction motor in green curve.
The negative value of the main motor is explained above
(with the need of the -1 gain). It's a matter of rotation
orientation. In green curve, the traction motor begins at 7
seconds when the system begins the diagonal motion and
finishes at 22 seconds when the grab bucket is opening. The
opening motion is not simulated as it is complex and costs
less energy than other motion. The main motor works during
the lifting up from the beginning (launching from 0 rpm to -
1000 rpm). It finishes at the end of the diagonal motion. With
the use of those motors' input, it's possible to check the
rotation speed of the drum with the groups highlighted in
blue.
FIGURE.14. Speed ratio between the theoretical model and the
AMESim model
The Fig.14 presents the ratio between the AMESim model
and the theoretical model during the lift of the grab bucket.
There are three different stages that emerge from this curve.
The first stage is from 0 seconds to 6.5 seconds, which is
pure lifting movement, that is, the main motor works, and the
traction motor does not work. The ratio is at 0.97, The ratio
is 0.97, which means that the AMESim model's drum speed
is slightly faster than the theoretical model's, this situation
gradually intensified, with the landside ratio changing to 0.6
FIGURE.12. Land side drum speed difference between models
and seaside ratio to -0.14 in the second stage. For the final

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stage between 19 and 25 seconds, both ratio curves have a the power using the speed and torque in the theoretical model.
value of 0.42. The power on the seaside is likely to be smaller, and the
This ratio represents the difference in drum speed between reflow from the seaside to the landside will also be smaller.
the AMESim model and the theoretical model. The speed The second case is the power model that keeps the traction
difference means that in the AMESim model, the two drums motor at full speed. This implies a longer horizontal path and
run 2.38 times faster than the previously created model more power. The last case is to propose a diagonal path that
(1/0.42). This ratio is only for the traction (diagonal and suits the maximum vertical and horizontal speeds with the
horizontal) motion comes from the traction motor. The current general path arrangement. It means the vertical path
horizontal speed in the diagonal motion has been limited by is longer to make a better diagonal path. But this last case
the existing distance. When the maximum horizontal speed creates a more cost for the economy of energy, this means
is fixed at 220 m/min, the maximum vertical speed is fixed that the system will do less unloading per hour, which is low
at 130 m/min. As the vertical length is a little bit longer than productivity.
the horizontal length, the horizontal speed has been fixed at Finally, the application of the two models in power
110 m/min, which is half of the maximum speed of the simulation of differential gearbox is considered. The
traction motor. difference between the two is that the AMESim model (as
It's possible that the traction motor is little bit oversize compared to the theoretical model) has a traction motor
which affects the vertical length more than the horizontal speed factor of 0.42.
length. And in every configuration the vertical length is
longer than the horizontal length. This conclusion leads to C. AMESim model of Electrical gearbox
three possible power configurations. The first is to calculate

FIGURE.15. The electrical gearbox’s basic AMESim model

The Fig.15 presents the basic AMESim model for the
electrical gearbox. There is no differential clutch in this basic
system. The system is left-right symmetric (similar to a
differential gearbox), therefore, it can be simplified to two sets
of systems with motor/power gear drive/drum. The two sets
can be run separately and for better understanding, and the
calculation time requirements are less demanding than
differential gearboxes, so the landside and seaside drums are
put together for comparison. The energy line of the electrical
gearbox can be divided into such a group of components, from
the left to the right: a dynamical timetable, gain sub model, a
motor, a power sensor, four gears that meshed two by two then
FIGURE.16. Torque timetable used in AMESim model
another power sensor, a speed sensor, a module that converts
input into torque and another dynamical timetable. The Fig.16 corresponds to the time varying curve of torque.
The negative value of the seaside drum (the green curve) is

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due to the rotation direction. The value of the torque is mainly The left dynamical timetable contains a speed curve that
around 60000 Nm from the model. After 16 seconds the curve matches the drum's rotation speed with a consideration for the
is going down and the diagonal is slowing down. It reduction ratio.
corresponds to the data proposed by classic model from
ZPMC. D. Differential gearbox AMESim model result
In the differential gearbox, the power will be checked at 8
points. These areas are divided into four groups shown below:

FIGURE.17. Power observation area for the differential gearbox

The Fig.17 is composed by four specific areas. The blue zone
labelled 1 corresponds to the power from the main motor and
the traction motor (which is also called support motor in the
later figures). The orange zone labelled 2 corresponds to the
separation of the main motor power to each drum. The purple
zone labelled 3 corresponds to the power from the traction
motor to each epicyclic gear. And the yellow area labelled 4
directly corresponds to the drum power.
The calculation result of the theoretical model has been given
above. This means that the speed ratio of the traction motor in
the AMEsim model to that in the theoretical model is 0.42 or
in other words the traction motor speed is 500 rpm instead of FIGURE. 18. Motors power with the 0.42 ratio
1200 rpm. The same torque curves are used and the same The Fig.18 above presents the power of two motors, for the
model is presented. The power result from the four areas are lifting up motion. The red curve represents the main motor, it
shown as follow in the order 1-2-3-4. The number in the top increases to 515 kW between the 3 seconds and 7 seconds then
right of each figure is linked to the area labelled by the same it goes to a second stage at 344 kW. Finally, from 16 seconds
number in the figure above. to 18.5 seconds power drops to zero. The traction motor begins
at 16 seconds and finishes at the 20 seconds with reaching a
value of 217kW at 17.9 seconds then drop to zero. The

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nominal power of the main motor is 560 kW, which is similar two from the beginning between the two sun gears that flows
to the peak value as the Fig.18 shows. The nominal power of into both epicyclic gear to reach the drums. In the presence of
the traction motor is 315kW. Since it drives two gearboxes at horizontal motion, the traction motor provides some energy,
the same time, each gearbox is allocated to 157.5KW. but the asymmetric energy requirements of the two drums
force 140kW energy reflowing from the epicyclic gear to the
annular gear.

FIGURE.21. Drum power with the 0.42 ratio

FIGURE.19. Sun gear power with the 0.42 ratio
The Fig.19 represents the power flowing through the two The Fig.21 represents the power flowing into the drum
sun gears. The power through the two sun gears is almost when the traction motor speed is 500 rpm. The two drums have
exactly the same from the beginning to the 16 seconds. They the same need in power for the vertical motion, and then the
are equivalent to half of the output power of the main motor power becomes different for the change of drums' rotation
(maximum power of the upper sun gear is 260kW, maximum direction and speed. Due to the increase of speed and torque
power of the lower sun gear is 256kW). The slight difference caused by the change of motion, the power of the seaside drum
can be explained by the loss of the system. After the 16 reaches a small peak of 80kW at the end stage.
seconds, the system occurs the reflow of energy from the As the speed of traction motor at 500 rpm, the previous four
seaside to the landside. The negative value of the red curve is figures are about the flow of energy and the power's repartition
because the energy transfers to the green curve. It is checked in the two sides of the system. With the speed of traction motor
that at 1200 rpm, another set of power curves for differential
𝑃𝑠𝑢𝑛 𝑔𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑢𝑝 = 𝑃𝑠𝑢𝑛 𝑔𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 + 𝑃𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑟 (20) gearbox will be done. The power result from the four areas are
From the 16 seconds to the 18 seconds. shown as follow in the order 1-2-3-4. The number in the top
right of each figure is linked to the area labelled by the same
number in the figure above. The following curve will be
compared with the previous set.

FIGURE.20. Annular gear power with the 0.42 ratio

The Fig.20 represents the power through each annular gear FIGURE.22. Motor power with 1200 rpm model
during the lifting motion with the speed at 500 rpm for the The Fig.22 represents the power of the two motors with the
traction motor. The power which travels through annular gear AMESim model where the speed of traction motor is 1200
comes from the traction motor or a energy reflow from the rpm. The difference of power and a drastic increase of the
drum or epicyclic gear. As seen in the Fig.20, the traction consumption can be directly seen from the 17 seconds to 18
motor produces energy from 16 seconds to 20 seconds, and seconds. The power reaches 520 kW, which is the double of
corresponds to the Fig.19 above. This means the power flow the previous value. All the power curves have been created and
from the 7 seconds to the 16 seconds corresponds to a reflow put together in the later figures. The power curves of sun gear
from the epicyclic gear and more particular from the sun gear. are exactly same, so the later figures don't include that (that's
It's surprising that the energy of the main motor is divided by why there is not the number 2).

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(a) (b)

(c)
FIGURE.23. Power comparison between in the differential gearbox, two different speeds
The Fig.23 presents the power curve changes of the three landside has a decrease of need. Then when the main motor
parts caused by the change of traction motor speed. The power doesn't provide power at all, the sun gears provides a little
difference can be better understood by the superposition of reflow from the down epicyclic gear to the up epicyclic gear
curves at two speeds of traction motor. The curve in label 3 for the landside drum.
has been seen before and already summarized, it also shows All above power flows can be summarized with a sketch.
that the power of main motor doesn't change (due to the same Which is shown in Table.3.
speed output from the motor and the same torque from the The first line is the power flow diagram at 0 to 6 seconds,
drum). The curve label 3 represents the power through annular when the rotational speed has no effect on the power flow.
gear. The red and green curves were summarized before. The From the beginning to the end of the second row, the left and
label 3 shows the increase of the reflow from the down right columns correspond to the power flow at different speeds
epicyclic gearing. The power reflows is about 350kW in the
up annular gear when the speed of traction motor at 1200 rpm.
In the same time, on the label 4, the power from the seaside
drum is negative and reaches a value of 165kW which reflows
through the epicyclic gearing. when the speed of traction
motor at 500, the power seaside drum needs is around 50 kW,
in the same situation for a higher speed there is a reflow from
the drum. From the 16 seconds to 22 seconds, the main motor
is being progressively stopped and the traction motor has to
provide the power to do the horizontal motion. The power is
divided between the two annular gears but not balanced in
proportions. The landside needs more power than the seaside
even if the seaside has just a little increase of need and the

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Table.3. The power flow diagram of a differential transmission for several specific time

Power flow of traction motor at 500r/min Power flow of traction motor at 1200r/min

adjusted to provide a reasonable speed for the drum and rope.

E. Electrical gearbox AMESim model result The electrical gearbox is simpler than the differential gearbox,
The electrical gearbox AMESim model has been presented but is worse in terms of power consumption. Mainly because
above. Same torque curves are used in the drums. The speed there is no reflow and balance of the energy between the two
is supplied directly by the motor, which forces the motor to be gearboxes.

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FIGURE.24. Electrical gearbox power FIGURE.25. Power comparison between electrical differential and
differential gearbox
The Fig.24 above presents the power consumption of the
The Fig.25 presents the power curves of two motor from the
motors in two sides. The maximum power of the landside
electrical gearbox and the differential gearbox. The electrical
motor is 315kW, and that of the seaside motor is 250kW, but
gearbox uses four motors and the differential gearbox only use
these two values cannot be achieved simultaneously. The two
three motors. The curves were already summarized in the
motors first have a similar performance from 0 to 7 seconds.
section they are related to. The installed power is known from
This is the vertical motion, and a difference of capacity and
the maximum of the curve's value for each motor.
quality from the two motors could lead to a difference of
The differential gearbox is presented with two 560kW
balance in this motion, it has to be considered when the
motors and one 315kW motor, the total installed power is
electrical motor is designed. Then the diagonal motion needs
about:
more power from the landside motor than from the seaside
𝑃𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 = 2 ∗ 𝑃𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑟 + 𝑃𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑟 (22)
motor. This power comes more from the speed than torque
𝑃𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 = 2 ∗ 560 + 315 = 1435𝑘𝑊
issue, which is almost the same for the seaside and the landside.
The differential gearbox system has an installed power of
Torque is mainly supplied by the power of vertical motion
1435kW. And the electrical gearbox system has an installed
rather than horizontal motion. After the 16 seconds, the power
power of 1340kW. So the installed power of the whole
is mainly used for the trolley which doesn't consume a lot of
differential gearbox system is slightly higher than the installed
energy. These curves of power don't consider any overload or
power of the electrical gearbox system.
the starting of the motor. The electrical differential system
asks the motor to own a far more flexible range of speed. The V. Conclusions
landside motor has a wider range of speed. The electrical The paper describes in detail the functions and performance of
differential system requires two 250kW motors and two electric gearboxes and differential gearboxes, as well as the
315kW motors (it's exactly the good value), if a little overload characteristics of the internal components of the differential
is considered, two 355kW motors should be taken instead. gearbox, such as the return flow of the transmission and the
𝑃𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 = 2 ∗ 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑟 + 2 ∗ 𝑃𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑟 (21) loss of planetary gears. When the power is unloaded to a
𝑃𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 = 2 ∗ 315 + 2 ∗ 250 = 1130𝑘𝑊 certain extent, the total installed power of the differential
The total installed power is 1130kW for the electrical gearbox is larger than that of the electric gearbox (comparison
gearbox if an overload is not considered. But for the between 1435kW and 1340KW), but the total consumption of
differential gearbox, the overload is considered (the motor are the differential gearbox is lower. The installed power is mainly
oversize, which has to take a security size). For the installation determined by two parts of vertical and diagonal movement
with a slight oversize, the electrical differential system must (during vertical movement, the seaside part consumes the
take two 250kW motors and two 355kW motors. largest power value and the landside part consumes the largest
𝑃𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 = 2 ∗ 355 + 2 ∗ 315 = 1340𝑘𝑊 power value when performing diagonal movement). In order
In the case of a slight oversize, the installed power for the to improve the power loss caused by the load moving, this
whole system of electrical differential system is about article proposes different improvement measures:
1340kW. By exploring different unloading paths and increasing the use
of motors as much as possible, the capacity of the differential
F. Comparison between the two AMESim models gearbox can be increased under the same installed power.
Several different AMESim models have been built and tested, Since the weight of the grab is the main part of energy
the more accurate model has been presented, a formal consumption, we can reduce the weight of the grab by
comparison between a differential gearbox and an electrical improving its design and structure.
differential system from a view is done. The comparison is Another way to improve is to optimize the current model to
with the same rotation speed and the same torque in the level get closer to the starting and working state of the asynchronous
of the drum. It means that the grab bucket motions and load motor. Electrical differential may be difficult to achieve its due
conditions are the same.

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 This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3049512, IEEE Access
Author Name: Preparation of Papers for IEEE Access (February 2017)

speed value. This means that the installed power of the electric
gearbox is higher than mentioned in the article. Yuantao Sun ,born in Hubei Province, PR China
Therefore, the third return flow can be distributed to the two in 1979.He receive Ph.D. degree in Mechanical
systems, allowing the motor to work on the braking device and design and theory from Wuhan University of
save its power to other motors, or use a flywheel to reuse Technology, China,in 2008。
He is an associate professor in the school of
power. This short-term energy storage method can reduce the Mechanical Engineering of Tongji University. His
total power consumption. research interests include mechanical design for
With the popularization of electrical differential gearbox, it the ship unloader, ect, structural reliability and
correlation analysis of failure modes.
will help to learn about the path of energy transmission and the
percentage of energy in each path to calculate the unloading
power.
Chongyang Huang, born in Henan Province, PR
China in 1997. In 2020, he received the B.S. degree
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publishing house, 2013, p245-249 in 2019.
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the Ropeway and the Crane.

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