THE IMPACT OF ANALOGUE AND BANG-BANG STEERING GEAR CONTROL ON SHIP'S FUEL ECONOMY

This paper presents a comprehensive survey of steering gear principles commonly used, inlcuding relevant details of three analogue steering gear servo principles, which have shown better performance than conventional designs. Control system performance is evaluated from direct measurements of speed and fuel consumption, and results from several ships are given. The analysis should be of value to ship owners and steering gear manufacturers in the design of safe and economic rudder control systems.