Applied Sciences, Free Full-Text

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Nowadays, damage to ships due to marine debris at sea is increasingly reported. Specifically, a piece of rope or fishing net can wrap around the propeller shaft, stopping it from rotating. Although various efforts have been made, there are still numerous practical challenges. A rope cutter system, which was designed to cut suspended objects wrapped around the propeller shaft, offers a great advantage in protecting the propulsion system. Since the cutting action produces the transient torsional vibration, the connecting bolts should be stable and sufficiently rigid under normal conditions. However, in the event of an encounter with an object that is too hard to cut, the bolts must be broken so that the rope cutter is released. Those kinds of objects may not be long enough to wrap around the shaft, such as a piece of wood. Therefore, this research presents the novelty in maintaining the safety of the propulsion system installed with a rope cutter. In this study, a method for obtaining the maximum diameter of the connecting bolt as a safety device is described, and the torques required to cut ropes of various thicknesses were determined based on actual measurements. Finally, a series of experiments in the laboratory-scale and shipboard test on an actual ship show that the rope cutter does not significantly reduce the ship’s power performance or increase the structural vibration.