ELECTRONIC SPEED LOG

THE IMPELLER LOG

This type of log is usually fitted in small crafts. The standard equipment consists of the following 1. 2. 3. The log tube assembly The amplifier Speed indicator and distance counter

The sensing device is at the end of a long-tube or probes, consisting of a small device called impeller (the dynamic element could be either a small propeller or a paddle or a screw) at the end of the probe, which is lowered into the water. The tube is set with the port (opening) facing forward.

The water flow drives (or turns) the impeller and the rotation of the impeller induces an electrical signal, which is picked up at the coils. The output is fed to the amplifier and is used to operate the speed indicator. The rotating impellor's signal could also be used to provide a distance measurement.

When speed (or distance) measurement is required, the log is lowered into the water, and when not in use, is retracted inside the hull. Retraction of the log can be done manually or by a remote hoisting arrangement operated from the navigating bridge or engine room.

The log-tube may become blocked or obstructed by foreign bodies such as small fish, seaweed etc. The arrangement allows the whole tube to be withdrawn inside the vessel for inspection and cleaning. In the event of the log-tube being bent by hitting an underwater obstruction such as a sand bank or a large fish or more often caused by a wire or a rope having passed under the vessel, the logtube must be jettison.

This type of log can give only speed through water and is greatly affected by the current flowing under the ship

The Pressure type log (Pitot tube Log)

This type of log consist of: 1. Two openings outside the hull of the ship, static tube that provides static pressure and impact or Pitot tube that measures dynamic pressure or the water flow of pressure 2. Controller unit (pressure differentiator) 3. Speed and distance transmitter 4. Speed and distance recorder

Operations: The opening of the Pitot tube faces forward so that when the vessel moves forward, the water causes a pressure at the tube this dynamic pressure is proportional to the speed at which the vessel moves. The pressure differentiator measures the differential pressure. The Controller unit converts the pressure difference into speed and distance units.

This type of log can give only speed through water and is greatly affected by the movement of the water which would induce an extra pressure giving rise to error in readings.

ELECTRO MAGNETIC LOGS

This type of log consist of: 1. Master Indicator 2. Preamplifier 3. Sensor

Operations The sensing of speed makes use of law of electromagnetic induction When the ship moves, the water passing through the hull acts as a conductor. The magnetic field is produced by a solenoid, installed in such a way as to allow the field to extend into water This produces an EMF (electromagnetic force), which is measured and converted into the speed of vessel through the water.

The electromagnetic log is based upon the Faraday-Maxwell induction law; Figure shows the principle of the log. The induced e.m.f. E is given by the following: E=FxLxV Where F = the magnetic field L = the length of the conductor V = the velocity of the conductor through the magnetic field.

In the EM log a direct current through the windings of a coil, generates a magnetic field. If the conductors do not move relative to the coil they do not intersect the magnetic fines of force and no voltage is induced in them. In the EM log the F and L are maintained constants, therefore the induced e.m.f. is directly proportional to the velocity V, which is the velocity of the vessel through the water.

The direction of the voltage E depends on the directions of the lines of force and the direction of the velocity of the conductor water. According to the formula the induced voltage is proportional to the velocity V. Should the velocity have the opposite direction, the direction of the voltage would change too. The electromagnetic log is based upon the Faraday-Maxwell induction law;

A direct current through the windings of a coil, generates a magnetic field. Four conductors (ab, bc, cd and da) are arranged in the form of a loop around the coil. If the conductors do not move relative to the coil they do not intersect the magnetic lines of force and no voltage is induced in them.

Alternating current through the coil

Instead of a direct current, suppose that we send an alternating current through the coil. Then the induced voltage that we will have would be also an, alternating voltage with amplitude that is proportional to the velocity, V. For the electromagnetic log an alternating voltage is preferred to a direct voltage.

The speed out put from an EM log depends upon the water flow by way of the sensors. Thus siting of the probe is critical. This is so since if too close to the hull then due to the non-linearity of the hull form the speed of the water flow may give a wrong representation of the vessels speed. This is minimized by careful siting of the sensor as well as by calibrating the instrument while installation.

Pitch and roll also give rise to errors however these are reduced by having an electrical time constant that is longer than a period of vessel motion. A well-adjusted log can have an accuracy of better than 0.1 percent of the speed range

This type of log can give only speed through water and is greatly affected by the current flowing under the ship. However if the water is stationary at an anchorage there will be no speed shown. In all the above logs the flow of water past and under the hull play a major part in the accuracy of the readings.

DOPPLER LOG

The speed log or doppler log, effect was described by Christian Johann Doppler in 1842. it is a frequency shift resulting from the relative motion between a transmitter and receiver or reflector of acoustic or electromagnetic energy. The reflection generated between the ships and ground, which is an electronic energy in origin is measured and a velocity obtained.

 It

is a potent instrument during ships manuevering in precise anchoring speed is registered. The doppler log works in two modes i.e. by bottom tracks mode where speed over the ground is achieved. Water tracks mode where water movement under the keel is measured.

The working operation of a doppler log is in the range of 200 meters and loss of signal can be attributed to vessels pitch and roll resulting in different receiving angles. In situation like this the doppler log retains the last registered speed.

Principle A transmitting transducer below the ship continuously emits a beam of sound vibrations in the water at an angle (usually 60 to the keel) in the forward direction. A second transducer aboard receives the echo caused by diffuse reflection from the seabed. A Doppler log uses a higher frequency than an echo sounder.

Advantages: 1.The resulting shorter wavelength leads to the more diffuse reflection desired; the echo from a specular reflection would not be received, in view of the oblique incidence of the beam. 2.The shorter wavelength makes possible a smaller beamangle and so avoids the dimensions of the radiating face of the transducer becoming too large. 3.The emitted power of the sound vibrations spreads less and thus the echo is stronger.

 Every

point of the seabed is hit by the beam and causes a stronger or weaker echo in the direction of the receiving transducer. these points are situated at a different angle a to the horizontal direction;

All

The frequencies received aboard must differ for all these points. However, the average frequency is approximately that from point P, at an angle a to the horizontal. Hence, though the distance between the ship and the seabed does not change, the received frequency will differ (owing to the Doppler effect) from the transmitted frequency.

From the Doppler frequency-shift, which can be measured, the speed v of the vessel can be found.

 A second

transmitting transducer directs a beam in a backward direction and a second receiving transducer receives its echoes. speed of sound waves in the water c depends, however, on the temperature and (to a smaller degree) on the salinity and the water pressure.

The

 For

that reason a thermistor is mounted near the transducers. (A thermistor is a resistance, the magnitude of which depends on the, temperature.) Deviations of the sound speed c from the normal value are passed to the system computer for correction of its calculations. Note that the reading of a Doppler log depends solely on the speed of the sound waves;

The propagation time of the pulse and its echo plays no role.

Automatic correction for changes in speed of sound In some types of Doppler log, c/cos. is automatically kept constant. This is done by building up each transducer from a large number (144) of electrostrictive elements. For simplicity only four elements are shown: If the four elements were supplied with alternating voltages in phase, the, resulting sound waves would also be in phase, and the beam would be directed perpendicular to the radiating face of the transducer, i.e. vertically.

 However,

the elements are fed with voltages that differ in phase by 120, so the sound waves have the same phase difference. At all points of the line AB, however, the sound vibrations are in phase. Such a line or plane is called a wave front; propagation is always perpendicular to a wave front Reflections

Both the echo sounder and the Doppler log react to reflections of sound waves from the seabed; the former measures the propagating time and the latter the difference of the two frequencies. If the beam is propagated from one water layer into a second one of different composition or temperature, there will be reflection; there will also be a Doppler effect if the second layer moves relative to the first layer and if the beam hits this layer obliquely. In that case the frequency of the sound vibrations penetrating the second layer will also change, if the speed of the sound waves in the second layer is different from that in the first layer. For the echo, however, the reverse frequency change will occur and will cancel out the first change.

A Doppler log measures the algebraic sum of all Doppler frequency shifts experienced by the sound on its way to the bottom (or to a reflecting layer) and back again. To this frequency shift must be added the shift that arises at the transition of the transducer vibrations between the ship and the water, and vice versa. If the beam hits the bottom (bottom lock) the total frequency shift is, proportional to the speed of the ship with regard to the bottom. If there is no bottom contact, but only reflection against a water layer, the measured Doppler shift is proportional to the speed of the ship relative to that water layer (water lock).

Janus configuration

The placing of the two transmitting transducers, to produce forward and backward beams is called a Janus configuration. Due to the Janus configuration a linear relationship exists between the speed of the vessel and the measured frequency shift. A further advantage is that vertical movements of the ship cause equal changes to the Doppler shifts in the forward and backward beams, so the difference remains the same. Vertical movements of the ship do not therefore influence the Doppler shift.

For measuring the athwart ship speed, a similar Janus configuration is mounted at an angle of 90 deg. with the along ships transducers; The distance from the bridge of a large tanker to the bows may be 250 metres, so special information about the athwart ships speed both fore and aft is required when mooring. In that case athwart ships transmitting and receiving transducers are mounted both fore and aft.

Janus configuration. A term describing orientations of the beams of acoustic or electromagnetic energy employed with Doppler navigation systems. The Janus configuration normally used with Doppler sonar speed logs, and docking aids employs four beams of ultrasonic energy, displaced laterally 90 from each other and each directed obliquely (30 from the vertical) from the ships bottom. This is to obtain true ground speed in the fore and aft and athwart ship directions.

These speeds are measured as Doppler frequency shifts in the reflected beams. Certain errors in data extracted from one beam tend to cancel the errors associated with the opposite directed beam. Pitching and rolling From the figure we see that the speed for the dotted position of the ship, and for the forward-directed beam increases to V1; for the backward-directed beam V1 decreases to V1.

Measurement of ship's speed relative to bottom or to water

Owing to absorption by particles in the water at a depth of 200 to 400 metres, the so-called deep scattering layer (DSL), a Doppler log may only function, down to about 200 metres, unless the set is equipped to work in the layer of 10-30 metres below the surface. When reflections are received from this layer the speed of the ship relative to that layer, and not relative to the bottom, is obtained. Thus uncertainty and confusion may occur.

Apart from the effect of the Deep Scattering Layer, the water at 10 to 30 metres below the keel also causes an echo and Doppler effect by volumereverberation. This is called 'water track' (as opposed to 'bottom track'). In deep water there is a considerable difference between the time of propagation for bottom reflection and that for reflection from the mass of water at a depth of 10 to 30 metres. Receivers can be made operative for only a short period (a certain 'window' of time) either immediately after or a short time after each pulse transmission.

Suppose that the receiver has bottom contact, with the window occurring a short time after, transmission. If the Doppler log then loses bottom contact, the window is automatically shifted to occur immediately after pulse transmission. As a result, the receiver reacts only to reflections from the 10-30-metre water layer. When this happens, 'bottom track' indicator is replaced by 'water track'. When sufficiently low frequencies are used, echoes may still arrive from a rocky bottom at a depth of 600 metres and more. In some Doppler log, for depths less than 600 metres it is possible to switch manually to the water track mode.

Uses of the Doppler log

For, example, for a tanker of 200 000 tonnes with a residual speed when tying up of 0.2 knots (0.1 m/s), the energy to he absorbed by a pier or dolphin together with the ship's side is: 1/2mv2 = 1000 000 joules. The Doppler log can measure the speed to the nearest 0.01 knot or 5 mm/s; unfortunately, however, it sometimes does not function correctly during docking if the screws of tugs cause air bubbles (which reflect sound waves) to pass through the beams (aeration). Since the sound waves are reflected off by the water air barrier the Doppler may give wrong readings.